Footnotes

• Treasury 7, no. 1528
  
  漆瓜果形鼻煙壺
  大概為御製品，1750-1800
  
  Naturalistic Symbolism
  
  Metallic, yellowish-green, metallic-grey, cinnabar-red, gold, and black lacquer, and textile; with flat lip and flat foot; moulded in the form of a formalized melon flower containing two peaches and two melons, surrounding a bottle of vertically fluted form, probably intended as a further formalized melon, the inner bottle painted grey, the peaches and outer leaf in shaded grey and cinnabar-red, with gold details, the two smaller melons in yellowish-green with gold details, all on a black under layer; the interior black
  Probably imperial, 1750–1800
  Height: 6.04 cm
  Mouth/lip: 0.50/1.53 cm
  Stopper: tourmaline
  
  Condition: insignificant tiny chip on flat foot; minor wear to protruding surfaces. General relative condition: excellent
  
  Provenance:
  Sotheby's, London, 7 June 1990, lot 383
  
  Published:
  Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, no. 260
  Kleiner 1995, no. 323
  Treasury 7, no. 1528
  
  Exhibited:
  Hong Kong Museum of Art, March–June 1994
  National Museum of Singapore, November 1994–January 1995
  British Museum, London, June–October 1995
  Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July–November 1997
  
  Commentary:
  This and Sale 1, lot 105 (Treasury 7, no. 1530) are, with Treasury 7, no. 1529, three of the most intriguing lacquer bottles in the collection. None of them is marked, but all three combine to give the impression of an imperial group, particularly when linked to a series that remains in the imperial collection in Beijing (Li Jiufang 2002, nos. 398–402), in which all have what appear to be original stoppers made in lacquer but imitating gilt bronze. The first of the Beijing bottles is a double gourd painted with gold bats and clouds, another example of which is published in Geng and Zhao 1992, no. 411, also with its original stopper; and we must also link to the group the bottle decorated with bats in the J & J Collection (Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, no. 308). The group as a whole fits comfortably into the broad Fuzhou output of lacquered-textile bottles during the Qianlong period.
  
  What the J & J example and those in the imperial collection share are original stoppers of a distinctly palace type. Each of the stoppers on the bottles in Beijing appears to be made of lacquer, but imitating gilt bronze—although two seem to imitate the form of a gilt cabochon set into a gilt-bronze collar. The J & J bottle has a similarly Beijing-style stopper, of official's-hat shape, but without gilding. It is lacquered an overall green colour.
  
  An intriguing feature of this particular bottle throws no light whatsoever on its origins, but does seem to suggest a rather practical-minded lacquerer. Inside is a series of small, pebble-like objects of irregular shapes, all slightly larger than the mouth of the bottle, so they cannot be removed. They shake about and make a rattling sound now that there is no snuff in the bottle, and seemingly could only have been inserted before the two halves of the bottle were joined. Their only possible purpose would be practical: to keep the snuff free of lumps, or to loosen any remaining snuff that might cling to the walls. If this were a problem, these irregular lumps would be a splendid solution. If so, however, why do we not encounter them more often?
  
  The design here is unique for the group, consisting of a variety of symbolic fruits and leaves. The peach represents, as always, longevity. The large and small melons (gua, die) summon up the idiomatic expression guadie mianmian, which symbolizes an extended family line akin to the many melons growing from a single vine each year. The large flower supporting these fruits illustrates the natural process of plant growth: a fruit develops from a flower after pollination and fertilization. Its presence enhances the idea of fertility. Another unique fruit-form bottle of this group, in the form of a lizhi (litchi) with leaves and its original, stalk-form stopper, was in Christie's, South Kensington, 30 March 2000, lot 47.
  
  瓜瓞綿綿，子孫獻桃
  
  織物胎，有金屬味的松花色、金屬味的鴉青色，彤色、金色、黑色漆；平唇，平底；模印形式化的瓜花，花承著二桃二瓜，其中有凹槽的壺身大概是形式化的瓜；漆的底層和壺內壁都是黑漆
  大概為御製品， 1750～1800 年
  高：6.04 厘米
  口經/唇經：0.50/1.53 厘米
  蓋：碧璽
  
  狀態敘述：
  底有微不足道的缺口；突出的表面亦呈微乎其微的磨損。 總體的相對狀況： 極善
  
  來源:
  蘇富比，倫敦，1990年6月7日，拍賣品號383
  
  文獻：
  Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, 編號260
  Kleiner 1995, 編號323
  Treasury 7, 編號1528
  
  展覽：
  香港藝術館，1994年3 月～6月
  National Museum of Singapore, 1994年11月～1995年2月
  大英博物館, 倫敦, 1995年6月～10月
  Israel Museum, 耶路撒冷, 1997年7月～11月
  
  說明:
  參照 第一場拍賣會， 拍賣品號105 (Treasury 7, 編號1530) 。其他例子和詳細論述，請參閱本壺的英文說明。
  
  

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Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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