Double-Gourd-Form Porcelain Snuff Bottle with Auspicious Gourd Emblems and Floral Decoration
Name/Title
Double-Gourd-Form Porcelain Snuff Bottle with Auspicious Gourd Emblems and Floral DecorationEntry/Object ID
SB3604Description
Chinese porcelain snuff bottle of double-gourd form, the rounded lower body rising through a smaller upper bulb to an elongated cylindrical neck, fitted with a coordinating porcelain stopper and raised on a circular foot. The bottle is decorated in restrained polychrome enamels with delicate flowering and leafy vegetation extending around the body, complemented by prominent iron-red emblematic devices. Two iron-red motifs, one positioned on each section of the double-gourd body, appear to be stylized gourd-form auspicious emblems rather than conventional written characters or seals. The larger example particularly follows the outline of a double gourd, reinforcing the bottle's physical form. In Chinese decorative tradition, the gourd (葫蘆, hulu) carries extensive auspicious associations, including longevity, abundance, progeny, good fortune, and Daoist immortality. The repetition of the gourd in both vessel form and painted emblem therefore appears intentional and constitutes an important element of the decorative program.Category
Chinese snuff bottle
Made/Created
Artist
Maker presently unidentifiedTime Period
20th CenturyEthnography
Cultural Region
Continent
AsiaCulture/Tribe
Chinese