Porcelain Snuff Bottle with Figural Scene and Inscription, Guangxu Mark

Object/Artifact

-

The Curio Cabinet Collection

Name/Title

Porcelain Snuff Bottle with Figural Scene and Inscription, Guangxu Mark

Entry/Object ID

SB3710

Description

Slender porcelain snuff bottle painted in polychrome enamels with figures in an architectural landscape, including a seated dignitary and standing figures, alternating with black calligraphy and a small iron-red seal. The lower body carries the same pale-green landscape ground and blue double-line foot border seen on closely related bottles in the group. An iron-red four-character Guangxu reign mark appears within the recessed base. Although the neck and mouth are extensively broken away, the surviving bottle provides strong decorative, textual and construction evidence linking it to SB3709 and the broader SB3705–SB3710 group.

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 calligraphic inscription with iron-red seal, apparently employing language concerning enduring fame, renown and noble/heroic character. The text is closely related in vocabulary and arrangement to inscriptions on SB3709 and other bottles in the associated group. Complete transcription remains provisional. Four-character iron-red 光緒年製 (Guangxu nian zhi) mark, “Made during the Guangxu reign.” Mark is compatible with late-Qing/Guangxu-period manufacture but is not independently sufficient to establish period manufacture.

Dimensions

Height

2-1/8 in

Diameter

3/4 in

Weight

21 g

Materials

Material

Porcelain

Material Notes

With polychrome overglaze enamels, black calligraphy and iron-red marks

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Acquisition

Acquisition Method

Purchase