Lot 72

Lot 72
Treasury 6, no. 1119

Blue Bouquet

Dark and light cobalt-blue, turquoise-blue, and white enamel on copper with gold (cloisonné); with a flat lip and recessed, slightly convex foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim; decorated with a continuous design of various flowers and leaves; the foot covered with turquoise-blue enamel, the outer footrim not enamelled; all exterior exposed metal gilt
Probably imperial, attributed to the palace workshops, Beijing 1760–1799
Height: 5.52 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.75/1.45 cm
Stopper: coral; gilt-bronze collar

Illustration: watercolour by Peter Suart

Lot 72 Provenance:
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd (1987)

Published:
Arts of Asia, September–October 1990, p. 96
Treasury 6, no. 1119

Lot 72 Commentary
A first impression is that we are dealing here with an imitation in cloisonné of blue-and-white porcelain, but closer inspection shows that, in addition to the white and the cobalt blue (in two shades), a pale, turquoise-blue is present. Only one other piece seems to be recorded with this limited palette; it has a similar design (Hugh M. Moss Ltd 1970, no. 337). With its technical excellence and outstanding design and palette, this is one of the most unusual of all early cloisonné snuff bottles.

Mid-Qing or earlier cloisonné bottles are relatively rare. An overview of the art suggests that there are one or two surviving bottles that probably predate the Qianlong period, including Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, no. 265, a handful or so from the earlier part of the Qianlong period (including Treasury 6, no. 1113; Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, no. 264, and the closely related one in Li Jiufang 2002, no. 180), and a larger series of later-Qianlong palace wares represented by Treasury 6, nos. 1114–1119. After the Qianlong, there is no further sign of imperial production, but a range of commercial wares from the nineteenth century are more plentiful still. Finally, there was the flood of technically brilliant works produced by the Beijing Arts and Crafts Corporation workshops beginning some time after 1955 and working through the 1960s and into the 1970s. Most of these bore apocryphal Qianlong reign marks, usually a four-character mark stamped into the metal of the foot with a die-stamp, while some were given an engraved regular-script mark; a few were unmarked.