The Meriem Collection Part II. Lot 215

215
**A RARE ENAMELED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, QIANLONG FOUR CHARACTER MARK IN BLUE ENAMEL AND OF THE PERIOD, 1750-1799
Of squat ovoid form with flat lip and recessed flat foot surrounded by a footrim, the milky-white glass delicately painted in famille rose enamels with a continuous design of a lush garden setting with a butterfly in flight above flowers issuing from perforated ornamental rockwork, the foot inscribed with a four-character mark in blue enamel, Qianlong nian zhi (Made in the Qianlong period), jadeite stopper with integral finial and collar
5.1 cm. high
$45,000-55,000

P R O V E N A N C E :
Hugh Moss Ltd.

E X H I B I T E D :
Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver, 1992.

This exquisite bottle belongs to an intriguing group of enameled glass bottles formerly attributed to Ye Bengqi, an early to mid-twentieth-century artist famous for his enameled glass wares based on Imperial originals of the eighteenth century.

The red-on-yellow leiwen collar encircling the neck is found on other Qianlong enameled glass snuff bottles, such as one illustrated by Moss, Graham and Tsang, in The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no. 192, and is atypical of works by Ye Bengqi or his star pupil, Wang Xisan, who favored more fanciful borders. The style of enameling is similar to that found on another snuff bottle also attributed to the Palace workshops, illustrated in the same volume, no. 196; and one illustrated in Masterpieces of Snuff Bottles in the Palace Museum, p. 126, no. 115. They exhibit the same treatment as the flowers here, which are painted in opaque, dark pink lines of varying intensity on a paler pink ground, with leaves delineated in black enamel on color.

The Meriem Collection Part II. Lot 215