Footnotes

• Treasury 6, no. 1193
  
  瓷胎模製十八羅漢鼻煙壺
  擬御製品，景德鎮，1790～1820
  
  A moulded white porcelain 'Eighteen Luohan' snuff bottle
  
  Creamy-white glaze on porcelain; with a flat lip and recessed flat foot surrounded by a protruding convex footrim; moulded with a continuous design of the Eighteen Luohan, most with a familiar animal or attribute, the dragon of one emerging from clouds near the neck, the scene set on a ground of formalized clouds and waves and framed between borders of raised dots around the outer footrim and the upper neck rim; all exterior surfaces glazed, the glaze extending into the inner neck; the interior unglazed
  Probably imperial, Jingdezhen, 1790–1820
  Height: 6.9 cm
  Mouth/lip: 0.6/1.82 cm
  Stopper: creamy-white glaze on porcelain; moulded with a formalized
  chrysanthemum design; John Charlton, London, circa 1972
  
  Condition: two small dots missing from band around the foot; part of original process; kiln condition
  
  Provenance:
  Edward Choate O'Dell
  John Gilmore Ford
  Janos Szekeres
  Sotheby's, New York, 27 October 1986, lot 14
  Robert Hall (1997)
  Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd. (1997)
  
  Published:
  JICSBS, September 1972, p. 3
  JICSBS, June 1973, p. 6, fig. 5
  Stevens 1976, no. 275
  Ford 1982, no. 154
  Treasury 6, no. 1193
  
  With unmarked early moulded porcelain snuff bottles, it is difficult to draw a line between those produced in the last decade of the Qianlong reign and those produced in the first decade of the Jiaqing. We know from the reign-marked Treasury 6, no. 1202, that this design was made in the Jiaqing period, but although the design is the same, this piece and that come from different moulds. The two bottles are so close in detail that it took a while to establish that they were from different moulds; obviously, one was based on the other, or both on a common original. The fact that one version of a design is from the Jiaqing reign does not preclude another from the late Qianlong. Our dating of the present article reflects this possibility, but we suspect that it is more likely to date from the Jiaqing reign.
  
  The suggested imperial attribution is again based on the belief, expressed under Sale 2, lot 79, that moulded porcelain snuff bottles in the mid-Qing period were a court-fuelled art form, and those of high quality made in reasonably large series were probably made at the imperial kilns, whether marked or not.
  
  Luohan (the term is the standard abbreviated Chinese transcription of the Sanskrit arhat) are disciples of Buddha who have transcended the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and are honoured by all beings in heaven and on earth. Their numbers can run into the thousands, but certain groups became established over the centuries, including a group of five hundred of Hindu origin. A standard group of eighteen was well established by the Qing dynasty for depiction in art. Although many are identifiable by their physical attributes or associated animals, various sets showing the same arhat with different attributes over the centuries make accurate identification of each individual extremely difficult. For one set of illustrations identifying them all, see Williams 1932, pp. 161–168, but other, conflicting series exist. Arhats are considered fitting symbols of longevity, since they were thought to have the power of extending their lives interminably.
  
  Moulded porcelain bottles appear to have been provided from the outset with matching stoppers, usually decorated in the same colour(s) as the bottles. Many of these original stoppers have survived on the correct bottles, so we know exactly what they look like, making it possible to fashion replacements for bottles that have lost their originals. John Charlton, restorer for Sydney Moss and then Hugh Moss from the 1960s to early 1970s, made dozens in different colours. Many of these are now scattered among the world's collections; this is one of them. The colour of the glaze does not match completely, since the stopper was not made for this particular bottle, but it is of the correct type and close in colour.
  
  瓷胎模製十八羅漢圖鼻煙壺
  
  瓷胎乳白色釉；平唇 ，平斂底，突出凸面圈足；模印通體十八羅漢圖；外壁、頸內施釉，內壁不施釉
  擬為御製品，景德鎮，1790–1820
  高﹕ 6.9 厘米
  口經/唇經： 0.6/1.82 厘米
  蓋：瓷胎乳白色釉；模製形式化的菊花紋，John Charlton，倫敦，約 1972
  
  狀態敘述：足外壁本來就少了兩個曫魚子紋的小點；出窯狀態
  
  來源﹕
  Edward Choate O'Dell
  John Gilmore Ford
  Janos Szekeres
  紐約蘇富比，1986年10月27日，拍賣品號 14
  羅伯特．霍爾 (1997)
  Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd. (1997)
  
  文獻﹕
  《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》, 1972年9月號，頁 3
  《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》, 1973年6月號，頁 6, 圖5
  Stevens 1976, 編號275
  Ford 1982, 編號154
  Treasury 6, 編號1193
  
  說明﹕
  無年款的早期模製鼻煙壺，很難識別乾隆後旬和嘉慶前旬的製品。Treasury 6, 編號1202 跟本壺是同一個圖案，而且很像，可是雖然那件帶嘉慶年款，模子有很微妙的差異，所以並不足以證明，本壺不可能是乾隆年間燒製的。
  
  據所知，模製陶瓷鼻煙壺一作好就搭配了合適的蓋，主要是畫同顏色的。因為這種煙壺有很多還帶原件的蓋，我們知悉們的樣子，要復製蓋來代替失去的蓋就有不少範例。John Charlton者，1960年代到1970年代初，是 Sydney Moss 和他兒子莫士撝所聘用的修補者，他製作了好幾件蓋，現在散佈到全球的珍藏裏。 這是其中的一件。因為不是為這件煙壺作的，釉色有一點不一樣，但型式是對的，顏色是相近的。
  
  

Auction Notices

• Please note that the foot has been restored.

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Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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