Bottle ID: 00202

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YUANMING YUAN, TRANSPARENT, FLOWERS & ROCKWORK

Date: 1767-1799

Height: 57 mm

Glass, transparent, of rectangular form with rounded shoulders, decorated with famille rose enamels, with on one side mallow flowers and daisies beside a convoluted rock; the reverse with prunus and daisies among massive rocks.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Yuanming Yuan.

Similar Examples:

Lawrence, Clare. Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom - The Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1994, pp. 14-15, no. 1.81.
Friedman, Pamela R. Lessing. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Pamela R. Lessing Friedman Collection, 1990, pp. 120-121, no. 16.
Kleiner, Robert W. L. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, 1987, p. 19, no. 16.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Christie's, New York, October 18, 1993, lot 247
Reif Collection
The Albert Pyke Collection, Los Angeles

Exhibited:
 

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

Published:
 

JICSBS, Winter 2008, p. 9, figs. 8a and 8b

Although the Jian Yuan, in which the Guyue Xuan was located, is likely to have existed from 1767 when it was built until 1860, along with the other gardens in the Yuanming Yuan, the Archives state that in 1810 (the fifteenth year of Jiaqing), the Emperor ordered an extensive renovation of the Jian Yuan. After this point, the Jian Yuan is not mentioned again in the Archives, even though other adjacent gardens such as the Ru Yuan are. This is not unusual since the Jiaqing and Daoguang Emperors had both built their own residences within the Yuanming Yuan and their focus and indeed their very presence would have been elsewhere. After Qianlong's death in 1799, it is unlikely that any pieces would have been produced for the Guyue Xuan since it would have remained unoccupied by subsequent Emperors. This allows for a dating of these pieces, including snuff bottles, of 1767-1799.

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