Bottle ID: 399

< Previous page

CYLINDRICAL, CARVED WITH DUCK

Date: 1880-1920

Height: 83 mm

A porcelain snuff bottle of cylindrical form, with a lightly everted mouth and unglazed foot, applied on the body and with incised detailing, with a scene of a waddling duck amongst budding lotus leaves and pads; the body covered overall in an ochre glaze, the leaves and flowers picked out in green and pink; the duck left unglazed apart from its brown webbed feet.

Attributed to Jingde Zhen.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 66
Kleiner, Robert W. L. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, 1990, p. 79, no. 134.
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, November 16, 1989, lot 113, The Kaynes-Klitz Collection, Part I.
Sotheby's, New York, March 23, 2004, lot 270 [part], Collection of Lawrence and Florence Bier.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Sotheby's, New York, March 22, 1999, lot 261
Neal W. and Frances R. Hunter

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the quality of carved porcelain started to improve, although it never reached the artistry of the earlier years. However it was an improvement on the mass produced pieces which tried to copy the work of potters such as Chen Guozhi with little success. This continued through the Republic Period when the use of polychrome glazes became evident. Snuff bottles such as this example and Crane no. 66, although produced commercially, retain the simplicity of earlier work, and have an appeal as fresh today as a century ago.

< Back to full list