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An inscribed agate snuff bottle A dual-layered famille verte A famille verte snuff bottle
1750-1860 enameled porcelain snuff bottle 1850-1900
Very well-hollowed, of compressed spherical 1795-1820 Of bottle vase form, flared rim, flat mouth,
form, with a waisted neck, concave lip, fine The ovoid form bottle built between a short circular foot, decorated with two five-claw
oval foot ring, one of the main sides incised waisted neck and a splayed foot, the outer dragons among flames, the neck painted
with a ten-character poetic inscription in two layer finely reticulated between bands of ruyi- with bands of leaf lappets and lozenge design
vertical lines, reading yu jian chuan hua guo, heads with ribboned bajixiang emblems and flanked with elephant handles, all on a incised
ni shang dai yue gui, followed with a Qianlong cloud scrolls, the flat lip with traces of gilt. lishui ground.
mark, framed by two faux lion mask-and-ring 2 1/2in (6.4cm) high 2 1/2in (6.3cm) high
handles exquisitely carved in rounded relief. $1,500 - 2,000 $1,500 - 2,500
2 1/4in (5.7cm) high
$1,500 - 2,000 Provenance Provenance
Sotheby’s, New York, 27 March 2003, lot 338 Clare Lawrence Ltd., acquired ICSBS Boston
Provenance Ann and John Hamilton Convention, October 1991
Pamela Martin, New York, acquired 26 White Wings Collection
January 1989 Robert Kleiner Exhibited
Norton Museum of Art, Florida, September-
The first line of the poem may be translated as: Exhibited November 1997
Jade shears dart through the flowers L’Arcade Chaumet, Paris, June-August
The second line describes feathers on a gown 1982, no.50
shimmering in moonlight, resembling fluttering
Daoist fairies in flight. The phrase ni shang may Published and Illustrated
refer to a song named Ni shang yu yi qu (The JICSBS, September 1975, p.12, fig.9
Melody of the Gown of Shimmering Feathers). It JICSBS, June 1977, p.13, no. 28A, 28B
is believed that the song was composed by the and front cover
Tang Emperor Xuanzong (AD 712-756). Legend Robert Kleiner White Wings Collection, no.195
has it that the Emperor Xuanzong composed
the melody in Luoyang during a Moon Festival
when walking in the Moon Palace with a Daoist
monk. Later in his reign, the melody was played
at Taiqing Palace when worshipping Laozi,
founder of Daoism in China. In the dance that
was performed to this music the dancers wore
dresses adorned with peacock feathers.
Fine Chinese Works of Art and Paintings | 93
