A SLIP-DECORATED AND ENAMELED 'DOVES AND PEKINGESE DOG' SNUFF BOTTLE, YIXING, 1820-1850 Published:
Hugh Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles Four: A Magazine for the collector and student of Chinese Snuff-Bottles, London, 1966, p. 45, fig. 11
Arts of Asia, September-October 1973, p. 45, fig. 11
Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 336
JICSBS, December 1979 and March 1980, p. 13, fig. 4
Rachelle Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 126-127, no. 50

Exhibited:
Tokyo, Mikimoto Hall, An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles From The Bob C. Stevens Collection, 22-31 October 1978, cat. no. 92.

China. The stoneware bottle of rounded rectangular form, with a cylindrical neck, and tapering to a recessed oval foot, enameled in blue and reserved on each side with a recessed panel, finely carved and decorated in opaque colored slips, one side depicting a pair of Pekinese dogs, and on the other a pair of doves. The coral stopper finely carved with a bat.

Provenance: From the collection of Bob C. Stevens, no. 336. Sotheby's Honolulu, Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens, Part I, 7 November 1981, lot 69. Rachelle R. Holden, New York, acquired from the above. Bob C. Stevens was an enthusiastic collector of Chinese snuff bottles who published an important book on the subject, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, in 1976. In 1978, a part of his collection was exhibited in Tokyo at Mikimoto Hall. Rachelle R. Holden (1934-2020) was a famous collector of Chinese snuff bottles. She purchased her first bottle in 1974, finding the subject fascinating as it combined all the classic forms of Chinese art, and would continue to passionately collect them for the rest of her life.
Condition: Magnificent condition with minor old wear, light surface scratches, very few touched-up glaze flakes and microscopic pits.

Stopper: Carved coral (minuscule age cracks and chips to stopper)
Weight: 44.1 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 71 mm. Diameter neck 16 mm and mouth 6 mm.

The Daoguang Emperor and his consort were fond of doves and small dogs, respectively, as subjects of paired doves and Pekingese dogs became popular during this period. The symbolism imbued in the pairs of dogs and doves implies a wish for happy marriage.

The dove-and-dog Yixing bottles were made in sets and in several different series. One of the finest versions of all is seen in the present lot, with its rounded rectangular shape, blue surround and multi-colored slip decoration. The slip is both painted with a brush and plastered on and carved, or at least manipulated with a blade of some sort. This is the same technique as that of the Slip Master (see for example Moss, Treasury 6, lots 1448-1451), but it is a quite different, more evolved style, with a number of different colors of slip used almost like enamels. This is typical of artistic evolution in the snuff-bottle arts, where a simple idea, drawn initially from the painting style of the literati with its predominance of monochrome ink painting, evolves to a more complex style as the possibilities of the medium are explored. These bottles with their more intriguing designs and multiple colors may be the later wares by the Slip Master, perhaps with a son taking over, or they may be from a different workshop, although we are inclined towards the first option. The bulk of the known examples probably date from the earlier part of the Daoguang reign, although the type may have remained popular throughout the reign. As a rule, however, it is not likely that an Imperial type remained fashionable for thirty years without noticeable changes in style.

The dogs and doves on this series are always extremely well depicted, full of life, and the limited range of colors of slip available to the carvers are very thoughtfully and effectively used. While the form remains reasonably constant, and the subject matter is always the same, there are several different compositions within the series. Either each was made as an individual composition of the same theme, or each series was redesigned. Two more are illustrated in Stevens 1976, as nos. 334 and 336, both equally well worked. Between them, however, is a rare example (no. 335) with an enameled design of the same subject, still with the blue surround, that is quite poorly painted, even by the decorative standards of Yixing. The painted version may come from a time later in the reign when the enamel workshop responsible for so many earlier bottles was beginning to show signs of decline.

Yixing in Jiangsu province gives its name to this distinctive stoneware. In production for nearly a thousand years in the same place, Yixing ware only came into artistic prominence in the later Ming dynasty, when it was adopted by the literati class as a suitable material for teapots and thence for other items for the scholar's studio. Slip-decorated snuff bottles constitute a considerable portion of the known output. Slip is simply liquid clay which can be applied like a thick paint or used for gluing segments together.

Literature comparison:
Compare a Yixing bottle decorated with landscape scenes set within a blue-enameled surround, and impressed with a cyclical date, jiyu (1849) is illustrated in An Imperial Qing Tradition, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collections of Humphrey K. F. Hui and Christopher C. H. Sin, no. 46. Others of the slip-decorated versions with a blue surround are in Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 17 March 1977, lot 44, and Jutheau 1980, p. 94, no. 4, and Robert Kleiner & Co. Ltd. 1994, no. 75 (the designs as a mirror image of the present example), and Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 2 December 1969, lot 43 (from the Claar Collection).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Near identical
Auction: Christie's New York, 22 March 2007, lot 38
Price: USD 33,600 or approx. EUR 45,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An unusual slip-decorated stoneware snuff bottle, Yixing, 1820-1850

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 16 March 2015, lot 1028
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 44,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An enameled and slip-decorated, Yixing snuff bottle, 1800-1880


1820-1850年宜興紫砂掛釉加彩雙犬鼻烟壺
描述：中國。紫砂胎，壺身扁圓，直頸，矮圈足。除壺腹紫砂開光外，通體施藍釉。開光內堆料一面刻一對鴿子，上方有一隻翩翩起舞的蝴蝶，周圍點綴竹石；另一面刻一對北京哈巴狗，撲蝶嬉戲。壺蓋為蝙蝠紋紅珊瑚。

出版:
Hugh Moss，《Chinese Snuff Bottles Four: A Magazine for the collector and student of Chinese Snuff-Bottles》，倫敦，1966年，頁45，圖11。
《Arts of Asia》，1973年9-10月，頁45，圖11。
Bob C. Stevens，《The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles》，紐約，1976年，編號336。
JICSBS，1979年12月和1980年3月，頁13，圖4。
Rachelle Holden，《Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection，A Personal Commentary》，紐約，1994年，頁126-127，編號50。
展覽:
東京，Mikimoto Hall，《An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles From The Bob C. Stevens Collection》，1978年10月 22-31日，圖錄編號92。

來源：Bob C. Stevens舊藏，336號；火奴魯魯蘇富比1981年11月7日 ，Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens，Part I Lot 69；紐約Rachelle R. Holden 舊藏，購於上述拍賣。Bob C. Stevens 曾是一位中國鼻烟壺知名收藏家，曾出版過一本書The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles（《鼻烟壺收藏手冊》），1976年以及1978年。書裏曾記錄過這件拍品。他的藏品的一部分曾在東京Mikimoto Hall（御本廳）展出過。Rachelle R. Holden（1934-2020年）是著名的中國鼻烟壺收藏家。 她於 1974 年購買了她的第一個鼻烟壺，從而發現了鼻烟壺其迷人之處，因為它結合了中國藝術的所有經典形式。之後，她持續不斷地收集鼻烟壺。
品相：狀況極佳，有輕微的磨損和表面劃痕，少量釉面修補。

壺蓋：珊瑚 (輕微年代裂紋和磕損)
重量：44.1 克
尺寸：總高71毫米. 頸部直徑16毫米，壺口直徑 6毫米.

道光帝及其妃子非常喜愛鴿子和小狗，這一時期開始流行成對的鴿子和北京哈巴狗。成對的狗和鴿子的象徵著幸福婚姻。

因此雙鴿及雙犬成為道光時期較為流行的紋樣。整器選料講究、紋飾豐富，色感清新靈動，造型秀麗，二次加釉，工藝複雜。雙鴿雙犬嬉戲栩栩如生，造型典雅別緻。為清代道光一朝南方進貢宮廷的紫砂煙壺上乘之作。此類宜興紫砂加彩鼻烟壺是成套的，有幾個不同的系列。這類鼻烟壺是先製成紫砂胎，再在紫砂胎上點釉彩繪，有的通體掛釉，也有的局部掛釉，然後送入紅爐以低溫燒制而成。這是鼻烟壺藝術的典型藝術演變，最初從以單色水墨為主的文人畫風中汲取的簡單想法，隨著對媒介可能性的探索，演變為更複雜的風格。大部分已知的例子來自道光早期。 這個系列鼻烟壺開光中的狗和鴿子刻畫細膩，生動活潑。 雖然細節處理方面不同，但主題始終相同。另外兩個鼻烟壺參見Stevens（1976 年），見編號334 和 336，都同樣出色。 然而，有一個罕見的例子（編號335），同樣主題的琺瑯設計，仍然帶有藍色掛釉，以宜興的製作標準來說，畫工並不特別。彩繪版可能來自道光後期，當時其琺瑯作坊開始出現衰退跡象。

江蘇宜興以出產宜興紫砂出名，歷時近千年，直到明朝後期才開始藝術化，當時它被文人階層所採用，適材料，進而成為文人工作室的其他物品。

文獻比較：
比較一件己酉年(1849) 紫砂開光山水宜興鼻烟壺，見《An Imperial Qing Tradition，Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collections of Humphrey K. F. Hui and Christopher C. H. Sin》，編號46。其他紫砂開光鼻烟壺，見紐約蘇富比Parke Bernet，1977年3月 17日，lot 44。Jutheau 1980年，頁94，編號4；Robert Kleiner & Co. Ltd. ，1994年，編號75 (鏡面設計)，以及Parke-Bernet Galleries，紐約，1969年12月2日，lot 43 (來自 Claar 收藏)。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：幾乎相同
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2007年3月22日，lot 38
價格：USD 33,600（相當於今日EUR 45,000）
描述：1820-1850年宜興紫砂鼻烟壺

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約邦瀚斯，2015年3月16日，lot 1028
價格：USD 37,500（相當於今日EUR 44,000）
描述：1800-1880年掛藍釉宜興紫砂堆料動物紋飾鼻烟壺