Page 124 - Carl Barron Snuff Bottle Collection, CHRISTIE's Spet 12 2018

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AN ENAMELED GUYUE XUAN GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING,
ATTRIBUTED TO WU YUCHUAN, 1769-1799
The semi-translucent, pale green glass bottle of compressed rounded form is enameled
on one side with blossoming lotus plants, and the reverse is inscribed in black enamel with
a poetic inscription describing the life of a recluse living in the mountains, ending with
Wu Yuchuan’s seals. The fat base is inscribed in iron-red in regular script, Guyue xuan
(Ancient Moon Pavilion).
2º in. (5.7 cm.) high, glass stopper
$8,000-10,000
PROVENANCE
Robert Kleiner, Belfont Company Ltd., Hong Kong, 2000.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 3062.
EXHIBITED
Boston, International Chinese Snuf Bottle Society Convention,
The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.
Enameled glass snuf bottles with the signature Wu Yuchuan are discussed by the authors
Moss, Graham, Tsang, in A Treasury of Chinese Snuf Bottles, the Mary and George Bloch
Collection, Vol. 6, Part I, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 195-198, where it is noted that this group
has connections to the ‘Hu Xuan’ group and the Guyue Xuan group as a whole. While the
‘Hu Xuan’ group appears to be a name derived from Guyue Xuan, and not an individual,
Wu Yuchuan was an enameler who most likely began his training in around 1767 in the
palace (ibid., p. 197). Based on signed examples of his work, he appears to have been
active, probably at court, during the second half of the Qianlong reign.
For a full discussion of the artist and his connections to the palace see H. Moss,
“Mysteries of the Ancient Moon,” JICSBS, Spring 2006, pp. 23-27, where a number
of his signed bottles are illustrated.
Wu Yuchuan’s works are characterized by the inclusion of lotus blossoms on his earlier
bottles, a simplifed color palette, and the addition of seals, inscriptions and his signature,
and occasionally a Guyue Xuan or Qianlong mark.
Another bottle also enameled by Wu Yuchuan from the Ruth and Carl Barron Collection
of Fine Chinese Snuf Bottles: Part III, was sold at Christie’s New York,
14 September 2016, lot 577.
1769-1799年 (傳)吳玉川 御製玻璃胎畫琺瑯蓮塘圖詩文鼻煙壺 礬紅楷書「古月軒」款

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