Estimate

1.000 - 1.500

Session

8 May 2026

Description

China, Qing Dynasty, 19th/20th century

Of flattened ovoid form, with convex rim and recessed flat oval base

Decorated in polychrome famille rose enamels on a turquoise ground with stylised floral scrollwork and a band of pendant lingzhi heads to the shoulders

With two reserves depicting interior scenes with female figures and children, one showing a child holding a musical chime with an inscription praising the beauty of the young woman, the other with a woman arranging a flower in her hair before a mirror, with an inscription on the joy brought by children

The mouth with gilt rim and green glass stopper

The base with an apocryphal four-character Qianlong seal mark in underglaze blue

Jingdezhen production, datable between 1880 and 1940

(slight signs of use and wear to the gilding of the rim)



中国，清代，十九/二十世纪，粉彩瓷鼻烟壶，松绿地绘缠枝花卉及如意云肩，开光内绘仕女婴戏图并题诗句，景德镇制，底书「乾隆年制」四字篆书寄托款。

Height: 6,6 cm

Additional Information

Note: This example belongs to a well-known group of late Jingdezhen productions conceived to imitate the enamels of the Beijing imperial workshops. The base displays a calligraphic anomaly characteristic of this specific typology, visible in the inverted "S"-shaped stroke of the "Qian" character. As documented in the reference bibliography, the decoration is reversed in relation to the original enamel-on-metal models, an intentional inversion which allowed the formation of symmetrical pairs, responding to the taste and demand of European collectors of the period. The manufacture of these pieces was driven by the increasing circulation of court works of art on the Western market after 1860 and 1912.



Literature:

Moss, Hugh; Graham, Victor; Tsang, Ka Bo, "The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection", Volume I, Weatherhill, New York / Tokyo, p. 383, no. 225 (for an identical example).