Page 73 - Bonhams Sept 2016 Snuff Bottles

9132 9133 (two views)

9132 9133
AN ENAMELED AND GILT PORCELAIN ‘WATCH’ A POLYCHROME ENAMELED PORCELAIN ‘LIU HAI AND TOAD’
SNUFF BOTTLE SNUFF BOTTLE
Jingdezhen kilns, 1780-1850 Jingdezhen kilns, 1830-1880
Of round form with a cylindrical neck, the sides and neck of the bottle The ovoid bottle finished with a waisted neck, flared lip, similarly
in underglaze blue, each face with a clock, the hours indicated in ink painted in enamels to either main side with the Daoist immortal Liu Hai
as the twelve earthly branches, the hands in iron red and gilding. teasing a toad amidst cloud scrolls.
2 1/2in (6.4cm) high 2 1/4in (5.6cm) high

US$1,200 - 1,500 US$1,000 - 1,500

Whereas snuff bottles adopting the aesthetic characteristics of a clock 1830-1880 多彩瓷胎’劉海戲蟾’鼻煙壺
or pocket watch are known in several collections, it is very unusual to
have the hours indicated with the traditional Chinese use of the twelve
earthly branches as seen here. Primarily other clock-form bottles--also
in porcelain as well as glass and crystal--show the hours in Arabic or
Roman numerals, emphasizing the mechanism’s European origins.

1780-1850 瓷胎釉彩描金懷表紋鼻煙壺

CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES | 71