Page 317 - Christie's Fine Chiense Works of Art November 2018 London

with red bats against a gold ground with a brocade ribbon
tied around its waisted area in the collection of the Baur
Collection, Geneva (illustrated by J. Ayers and M. Sato
in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, Qing, Tokyo, 1983, pp. 106-7,
no. 117), as well as cloisonné vessels such as the pair of
Qianlong cloisonné enamel vases in the Uldry Collection
(illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz in Chinese Cloisonné:
The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, 1989, no. 298). Tied
ribbons were also applied to some vessels of un-waisted
form such as the Qianlong painted enamel on metal
lidded jar in the collection of the National Palace Museum,
Taipei (illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Ch’ing
Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, pp. 216-7, no. 109).
A snuf bottle from the Bloch Collection, which is of
similar form and decoration to the current bottle, but
bears a Guyue Xuan (古月軒 Ancient Moon Pavilion) mark
on the base, is illustrated by Robert Kleiner in Chinese
Snuf Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch,
London, 1995, no. 206. So-called Guyue xuan wares have
traditionally been associated with particularly fne painting
carried out in the palace workshops in Beijing. A few years
ago, the location of the Guyue pavilion was identifed in
the south-western corner of the Changchun Yuan (長春園
Garden of Eternal Spring), built by the Qianlong emperor
in preparation for his retirement, in an area called the Jian
Yuan (鑒園Garden of Refection), which was completed in
1767. It was in the literature relating to this garden that
the Chinese architectural historians He Chongyi 何重義and
Zeng Zhaofen 曾昭奮 found a reference to the Guyue Xuan
(see Yuanming Yuan yuanlin yishu 圓明園園林 藝術, Beijing,
1995). It appears that the Guyue Xuan was a pavilion of
fve column’s width, which was located at the rear of the
main hall in this garden.
It seems most probable that the current snuf bottle with
its auspicious form, decoration and colouring was created
by imperial craftsmen either to celebrate the New Year or
to celebrate an imperial birthday.