8 Horses

QING PERIOD 1644 to 1911

AN OUTSTANDING EXTREMELY RARE 8 HORSES 珐琅彩 FALANGCAI SNUFF BOTTLE

An elongated circular bottle slightly wider at the shoulders narrowing towards the foot.
Eight horses of varying colours, manes blowing as they prance and gallop over green grass and rock in a continuous scene around the bottle under a stippled blue sky.

The collar blue curlicues above a thin green band, stylised ruyi heads in red rimmed with black on a yellow ground.

The foot with blue inverted ruyi heads above a dotted yellow band.

The base with a Blue Qianlong Period Mark on a white ground.

Formerly the property of a Japanese collector

Condition: Excellent. No cap . A modern one can be supplied

Refer Large Images for details, quality and condition, they also form the description.
Depending on your computer monitor / phone / etc colour may vary to actual.

Dimensions are maximum measurements
Height about: 7.6 cm
Width about: 3.8 cm

A$1100

Having checked the net, snuff bottle books and auctions, this study is the only example I have seen of an enamel snuff bottle portraying 8 galloping horses.

This superb bottle is comparable in quality to those bottles produced in the Imperial Workshops of the Imperial Palace, 造 辦 處 Zaobanchu .

Enamel snuff bottles painted with European scenes were a favourite of the Chinese Court and Chinese collectors in the Qing Period 1644 to 1911.
Snuff bottles were in great demand by western collectors starting in the 19th century and still are.
Snuff bottles with European style artworks were normally based on prints and books transported to China by travellers.
The demand for Chinese art and antiques exploded when the first appropriated artworks taken from the Summer Palace made their way back to England France etc.
Considered by all the major experts such as Bob C. Stevens (the Collectors Book of Snuff Bottlers 1976) and the major famous collections, such as Guo'an. Bloch. Meriem. J & J. to name a few.
The finest of all snuff bottles are those that are enamelled on copper, brass, glass, gold.
The art of enamelling was introduced to the Chinese Court in the Kangxi era 1654 to 1722, by the Jesuit Guiseppe Castiglione (Lan Shining).