Set of Three Enameled Porcelain Snuff Bottles with Figural and Landscape Scenes

Object/Artifact

-

The Curio Cabinet Collection

Name/Title

Set of Three Enameled Porcelain Snuff Bottles with Figural and Landscape Scenes

Entry/Object ID

SB3709

Description

Three slender porcelain snuff bottles forming a coordinated group, each painted in polychrome enamels with figures in garden or architectural settings alternating with black calligraphic inscriptions and iron-red seals. The bottles share closely matched proportions, palette, painting conventions and blue-decorated porcelain stoppers. Each bears an iron-red four-character Guangxu nian zhi mark. The inscriptions appear to form part of a related literary program concerning reputation, achievement and enduring remembrance, strengthening the likelihood that these bottles were conceived as members of a larger series.

Category

Chinese snuff bottle

Made/Created

Artist

Maker presently unidentified

Time Period

20th Century

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Continent

Asia

Culture/Tribe

Chinese

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Black-enamel calligraphic inscriptions accompany the figural scenes, with small iron-red seals. The inscriptions appear to employ related auspicious/literary language concerning fame, reputation, achievement and enduring remembrance across generations. Recurring characters and closely related phrases across the bottles indicate a coordinated textual program rather than unrelated inscriptions. Complete transcription remains provisional because several characters are obscured by curvature, glare and abbreviated brushwork.

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Same dimensions for all

Height

2-13/16 in

Diameter

3/4 in

Weight

23 g

Accessories

Accessory

Wooden base

Materials

Material

Porcelain

Material Notes

With overglaze polychrome enamels; underglaze-blue/blue-decorated porcelain stoppers

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Acquisition

Acquisition Method

Purchase