An enameled porcelain snuff bottle

Jingdezhen Imperial Kilns景德镇官窑, Qianlong mark and period, 乾隆 1736 – 1795
Height: 6.2 cm.

Polychrome enamels, iron-red and gilt on porcelain, one side decorated with a cat seated on a rock looking at butterflies and peonies, the other side with two magpies perched on a blossoming plum tree growing among rockwork and peonies, the bottle of flattened form with flaring neck and a flat narrow rectangular base with a Qianlong nian zhi (made during the Qianlong period) four-character mark in seal form in iron-red and gilt.

The cat, peonies and butterflies form the rebus "May you achieve longevity as well as wealth and honor," while the magpies perched on the plum branch form "May your joy reach up to the top of your eyebrows." See Terese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meaning in Chinese Art (San Francisco: 2006), nos. 2.17.8 and 7.8.2.

Provenance 起源: Linda F. Crawley

Published 发布: Asiantiques, A Fascination for Miniatures: The Linda F. Crawley Collection of Chinese Snuff (2008), cat. no. 89

Ref. 817765

SOLD