Blossoms & Calligraphy

QING PERIOD 1644 to 1911

THE BLOSSOM & CALLIGRAPHY 珐琅彩 FALANGCAI ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE

A magnificent enamelled 珐琅彩 Snuff Bottle of elongated ovoid form.
The neck, decorated around with stylised bats in colours of puce and lime green.
The body, exquisitely enamelled in Imperial Yellow decorated with scrolling green leafage, stylised Indian lotus blooms, red ribbons, the character 寿 (Shou) meaning Longevity, in a wondrous range of colours and shading.

Set against the Imperial Yellow ground, four panels with gold frames each decorated with alternating themes of blossoms and calligraphy against a white ground.
Gnarled twisted branching boughs bearing opened delicate plum blossoms and buds at varying stages of bloom with green leafage.
Crooked misshapen branches displaying a host of magnolia flowers in all their splendour, green buds ready to awaken and flaunt their pristine yellow glory to the world.

Seperating each are Calligraphy Panels each carrying two lines of Calligraphy in 楷书 Kǎishū script, with red seal marks.

The foot bordered with a keylock design in blue against white.
Blue Qianlong Seal Mark under.


Condition: Excellent.

Cap not original.

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: 7.5 cm
Width about: 3.9 cm
A$3,500

I have never seen another Enamel Snuff Bottle with this same design.

The most Important Criteria to judge any Artwork by is: Quality.

The quality of this Blossoms and Calligraphy 珐琅彩 Snuff Bottle is ' literally beyond compare'.
The utilisation and amalgamation of colours that combine together to please the eye, the most intricate miniscule details that continue to amaze the beholder with the skill of the artist.
One can look at 1,000 bottles and never see one with the Quality of this bottle which can only be described as: A MASTERPIECE

This spectacular bottle is comparable in painting quality to the Finest of all Bottles' bottles produced in the Imperial Workshops of the Imperial Palace, 造 辦 處 Zaobanchu.
It is important to remember that the images of this enamel snuff bottles are many times larger than the actual size of the bottle. It is because of this magnification that one is able to see the fine miniature detail in which they are painted.

Each enamel snuff bottle is a superb example of Miniature Art

The art of enamelling known as Falangcai 珐琅彩 (foreign enamel) was introduced to China and the Chinese Court by the Jesuit lay brother Giuseppe Castiglione. In China, Castiglione took the name Lang Shining (郎世寧) and was court artist to the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.

According to Bob C Stevens who wrote The Collectors Book of Snuff Bottles, the finest of all snuff bottles are those that were painted with enamel on copper. Known as Falangcai 珐琅彩.