Bottle ID: 236

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VASE FORM WITH TAOTIE SHOULDERS

Date: 1736-1795

Height: 64 mm

Nephrite, pale greenish yellow; of flattened meiping (‘prunus blossom vase’) form with a wide mouth, and straightened lip, and concave oval foot rim; carved on each side with an elaborate archaistic taotie mask with a large ring in its mouth which hangs down to the base of the bottle, the narrow sides with mask and ring handles.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

 

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 230
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle - The J & J Collection, 1993, Vol. I, pp. 53-54, no. 14 and p. 55, no. 15.
Low, Denis S. K. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect III, 2007, p. 84, no. 65.
Sotheby's, New York, September 14, 2010, lot 188, The Joe Grimberg Collection.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS New York, November 2013

This superb Imperial bottle is confidently attributed to the Palace workshops on the strength of the lipped rim, the wide mouth, the hollowing detail, the colour of the material and the extraordinary, archaistic decoration. It is one of the great masterpieces of Palace jade carving in snuff bottles.

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