Bottle ID: 00295

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YANGZHOU, WHITE, TRAVELERS ON MULES IN TREE LANDSCAPE

Date: 1770-1820

Height: 67 mm

Glass, of tapering cylindrical form, with rounded shoulders and a neatly carved splayed foot, decorated in famille rose enamels on a milk-white ground with a continuous scene of travelers astride their mules crossing a river to the opposite grassy bank where willows and prunus trees grow, their attendant walking to the rear; below a circular trefoil border at the neck; the base with a iron-red Qianlong nianzhi mark in seal script.

Attributed to Yangzhou.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 245.
Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, February 20, 1970, lot 194, Collection of Mrs. Elmer A. Claar, Part Two.
Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, May 12, 1970, lot 445, Collection of Mrs. Elmer A. Claar, Part Three.
Christie, Manson & Woods, St. James's, London, June 18, 1973, lot 96, The Ko Family Collection, Part III.

Provenance:

Robert Hall

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

This is a highly unusual subject matter for this group of enamel bottles. It appears to be a unique scene on enamel bottles though not on bottles of other materials such as the inside painted group. The enameled scene uses the cylindrical form of the bottle exceptionally well and it is clear that the artist had strong control of his medium. The design is superbly drawn with as much use of the negative space as with the painterly decoration. When viewed from any section of the bottle, the scene is highly evocative of the subject it portays; a journey through mountainous landscapes, across lakes and over rocky terrain. In all liklihood this scene would have been inspired by a painting, although to transfer it to a cylindrical tapering curved surface while retaining its fluidity, is an accomplishment indeed.

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