AN INSCRIBED DUAN STONE SNUFF BOTTLE


Imperial, 1760-1820Well hollowed, with a flat lip and a recessed flat foot surrounded by a flat oval foot rim, one side carved in low relief with two dragons amid clouds and reversed by an incised couplet in regular script reading 'Duan creek is the birthplace of an excellent material; warm and lustrous, it is like fine jade. Made by imperial command', the narrow sides with mask-and-ring handles, the lions with the distinctive 'official's hat. 2 1/4in (5.7cm) high
|1760-1820年 御製螭龍紋詩句端石鼻煙壺款識端溪育良材 溫潤比美玉 御製Provenance: William A Parker Jr.Duan stone bottles from this period often are adorned with this poetic encomium, praising the quality of the stone, and thought to have been originally composed by the Qianlong Emperor (reigned 1736-1796). Many bottles of this type feature one face with stylized kui dragons forming the character for 'dragon' , however for a bottle with an identical front and back to the present lot see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, vol. 3, no. 394.