Page 7 - 2020 October 8 Snuff Bottles

snuff-box shape. The example with the blue mark is a useful reminder, however, 瑯小蓋盒風格一脈相承，有些還是歐洲鉸鏈式的鼻
of the confusion that can be caused by workshops hundreds of miles apart both 煙盒。而藍色年款亦能提醒我們，相隔幾百里卻共
producing wares for the court with a good deal of influence going back and forth 同為宮廷製作器物的工坊彼此均有深刻影響，有時
between them, sometimes in the form of expert enamelers being co-opted to the 一流琺瑯工匠會被指派至宮廷作坊內一同工作，因
Palace workshops. A neat northern-style blue reign mark does not necessarily 此可能產生混餚。宮廷作坊式的藍料年款並不意味
prove a northern product by any means. An open mind is still appropriate for this 著這件器物一定於北京製作。看待這組珍罕鼻煙碟
rare group, but Guangzhou now seems the more likely place of manufacture.
時要抱持開放心態，但廣州似乎是最有可能的產地。
Several of the late-Qianlong Palace workshops enamelled metal dishes are
primarily monochrome with either ruby red or blue landscapes, although others 部分出自乾隆晚期宮廷作坊的銅胎畫琺瑯鼻煙碟主
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are known with the fuller palette. 要為單色紋飾，繪胭脂紅或藍料山水圖，雖然另有
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一部分作品為多彩紋飾。 當中有一組附「敬畏堂
Among these is a small group, obviously made at the Palace workshops, that is 製」楷書年款的精品，顯然來自宮廷作坊，在黃地
decorated with chicks in a garden setting on a yellow ground, with regular-script 上飾有園中雛雞圖案。瓷器上年款一般為乾隆朝。
marks reading Jingwei tang zhi 敬畏堂製 (‘Made for the Hall of Respect and Awe’). 有時可以樂觀追溯至雍正朝，但由於我們有信心推
The mark on ceramics is usually dated to the Qianlong reign, or sometimes
optimistically to as early as the Yongzheng reign, but given the enamelled metal 測此組金屬琺瑯鼻煙碟最晚於 1780 至 1819 年製作，
dishes which can be confidently dated to around 1780-1810 at the latest, this 其使用年份應該亦相若。「敬畏堂」可能為清朝中
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would seem the more likely period for its use. It is probably one of many 期皇室所用的多個書房名號之一。 皇家書房名號
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imperial studio names in mid-Qing residences of the imperial family. These are 比起諸多私人書房而言較不為人知，我們亦未能在
less well recorded than many private studio names, and we have been unable to 出版物中找到參考資料。儘管舉國上下有數個非皇
locate it in the literature, although we have identified a number of non-imperial 室書房亦用此名，但與此組鼻煙碟並無任何關聯。
studios by this name around the country, none suggesting any relevance to these （由風格和物料可明顯看出）此組鼻煙碟為宮廷作
snuff dishes. As products of the palace workshops (evident by style and materials), 坊所製，所用的黃色顏料亦為皇室專用，或是皇帝、
and with their yellow ground, they appear to have been made for imperial use, 皇族及被授權使用皇家黃色器皿的官員所用。隨著
or distribution, whether by the emperor or his family or officials granted the 鼻煙碟風潮漸盛，皇帝或某位皇室成員似乎決定製
honour of using imperial yellow wares. It seems likely that as snuff-dishes became 作一系列飾有園中雛雞圖案的鼻煙碟。在乾隆晚期
fashionable, the emperor, or perhaps another member of his family, decided to
make a series of these snuff dishes, all with chicks in a garden scene. The design 御製玻璃琺瑯器中亦可見到同樣的圖案設計，可能
of chickens and chicks is found elsewhere on late-Qianlong palace enamels on 呼應以明成化雞缸盃為靈感、在雍正至乾隆朝期間
glass, possibly a reflection of the popular chicken cups inspired by Chenghua 於景德鎮為皇室燒造的盃皿。
originals from the Ming dynasty and produced for the court at Jingdezhen from
the Yongzheng into the Qianlong period. 清宮皇室成員及重臣都喜愛在生活空間中放置裝滿
鼻煙的鼻煙壺，若是有配套的鼻煙碟相伴就再合理
It would perhaps make more sense for the Emperor to have encouraged the 不過，因此皇帝可能鼓勵製作配套鼻煙碟。而皇帝
matching dish as it seems that at Court the imperial family and high ranking 或其他高級皇室成員亦不太可能會將自己的鼻煙與
officials would have had bottles full of snuff set aside in various living spaces 他人分享。幾乎沒有琺瑯鼻煙碟與已知任何鼻煙壺
where it would make sense to have beside it a matching dish. It would also 能配成一套，就算勉強可以，也很難證明二者為原
be less likely that the Emperor, or perhaps other high-ranking members of the 本配套設計而成。
family would, in any case, be as frequently offering their snuff to others as a social
habit. Few of these enamelled dishes ever precisely match a known bottle, and 除去較明顯者外，亦有許多玻璃乃至套玻璃鼻煙碟
even when they do it would be difficult to prove that they were intended as an 可與鼻煙壺搭配，但唯一原因是它們以相同物料製
original, matching set.
作；對所有壺碟而言，幾乎沒有任何其為原本配套
Apart from these more identifiable dishes, there are also many others in plain 設計的標誌。以其它常見物料如掐絲琺瑯、玉、瑪
glass, even glass overlay dishes that can be matched to bottles, but only because 瑙等製作的鼻煙碟亦是如此。隨著吸用鼻煙的步驟
they are in the same materials as the bottles; there is no particular indication in 不斷精緻細化，鼻煙碟與鼻煙壺一樣也發展出多個
nearly all cases that they were originally made to be matched. This may also 全新種類。
be the case with other relatively common types, such as in cloisonné enamel,
nephrite, agate and many other materials. As the paraphernalia of snuff taking 就算我們無法辨別來自十八世紀中期前的獨立鼻煙
became more complex, there is no reason why the same fashionable approach to 碟，如今亦有大量鼻煙碟存世。以象牙製作的便有
novel types of bottles should not have spread to the associated snuff dishes. 成百件，似乎這是最受歡迎的物料。在鼻煙壺收藏
未見風行以前，象牙鼻煙壺的數量相對不多，似乎
Even if we can identify nothing in the way of a separate snuff dish that is
definitely earlier than the mid eighteenth century, dishes survive in large numbers. 也支持了鼻煙壺與鼻煙碟一般並非以同樣物料配套
Hundreds are known in ivory, which seems to have been the single most 製作這一說法。因為表面皮殼的緣故，許多象牙鼻
popular material for them. Chinese ivory snuff bottles made to function before 煙碟可能從外觀上看比實際年份更為久遠。日常使
collectors became involved are relatively rare, which would seem to endorse the 用與手部接觸後，象牙會很快生出皮殼，若是曾與
conviction that bottles and dishes were not generally made in matching sets of 鼻煙接觸則更容易迅速變為棕色。儘管考慮到上述
the same material. Many of these ivory dishes may appear to be earlier than they 因素，許多鼻煙壺仍然於乾隆晚期之前製作。

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