Bottle ID: 701

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DOUBLE GOURD FORM

Date: 1750-1800

Height: 57 mm

Nephrite, very well hollowed, of even white tone, carved in the form of a double gourd, the smaller upper bulb sloping to a waisted neck with slightly everted lip and concave mouth, the lower bulb with a slightly concave spherical base.
Possibly imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

Chang Lin-sheng. Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan: National Palace Museum, 1991, p.150, no.s 122 and 123.
Sotheby's New York, 14 September 2010, lot 168, The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles (Jadeite).
Snuff Bottles - The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum. Volume 47, 2003, p. 201, no. 311 (Porcelain).
Snuff Bottles - The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum. Volume 47, 2003, p. 11, no. 12 (Enamel on glass).

Provenance:

Cottone Auctions, NY. September 26, 2014, lot 265.
A private Buffalo, NY Estate.

The double-gourd form is a popular shape in the decorative arts of China. It is a motif which represents fertility and good fortune, moreover a vessel in the shape of a double gourd is considered auspicious, because it is able to absorb all the evil vapors of the universe, thus protecting those around it. There is a very similar double-gourd shaped white jade bottle which bears a Qianlong mark on the base in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, thus supporting a possible imperial attribution for this delightful bottle.

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