Page 127 - September 21 2021 MAnfred Arnold Collection snuff bottles Bonhams NYC

505
AN IMPERIAL BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE
Qianlong six-character mark and of the Period, 1736-1795
Of shield shape, decorated on each main face with fifty shou
characters below lotus scrolls on the shoulders and leafy foliage on the
narrow sides.
2 1/4in (5.8cm) high
$2,500 - 3,500

乾隆 1736-1795 御製青花瓷胎百壽鼻煙壺 《大清乾隆年製》款

Provenance:
John Ault
Robert Kleiner, The John Ault Collection, 6 December 2002

Literature:
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault,
Hong Kong, 1990, p. 93, no. 159

Exhibited:
International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, Waldorf Astoria,
New York, 5-9 November 2013, no. 95

See Therese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art,
The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2006, p. 221, 7.56, for a
discussion of the use of a shou character that represents the word
‘longevity’. The calligraphic motif of the shou character can be written
in one hundred ways each with a distinct and different combination of
strokes, and often decorates birthday gifts.

Very few examples of this highly successful design are published
it seems. However another in the medium of cinnabar lacquer is
illustrated in Snuff Bottles, The Complete Collection of Treasures of
the Palace Museum, (Gugong bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin daxi.
Shanghai: Shanghai kexue jishu chubanshe), 2002, p. 259, no. 397.

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