Description
Nephrite; of flask shape with a very wide mouth and extremely well hollowed, the flared neck with a lipped rim, the shoulders carved with loop handles suspending loose rings, the body supported on a raised foot rim with a crisply carved flattened edge, the almost white material suffused with paler swirls, possibly Imperial.
The Qianlong Emperor greatly admired the quality of Moghul jade vessels which he received in tribute after the conquest of Xinjiang in 1759. One of the qualities he most admired was the thinness of the walls of these vessels and he established a workshop, the Xifanzuo, to produces similar pieces. This resulted in a series of snuff bottles hollowed to such an extent that their walls were almost paper thin. Although undecorated, this bottle shows these signs of Moghul influence which are strengthened by the very wide flared mouth. The lipped rim and loops suspending loose rings are a further sign of court influence and can be seen on two other snuff bottles with a Moghul association in the form of elephant’s heads (see Treasury 1, no. 41 and John Ford, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Edward Choate O’Dell Collection,no. 13).
The impressive form of this bottle, accentuated by the taper of the sides towards the base is further enhanced by the finely carved splayed foot rim, which complements the flared mouth.
