Footnotes

• The subject of the grasshopper on the current lot is rarer than on other examples, where grasshoppers are usually depicted individually without any background or with a gourd as its carrier.
  
  The appearance of grasshoppers or katydids became a popular subject matter for decorations on snuff bottles during the late Qianlong period, mostly seen on the enamelled-glass wares which bear guyuexuan marks. However it was during the Daoguang period when the design permeated into the Imperial court as a favoured subject. The popularity of the design is also considered a by-product of the fashion for selecting and breeding the finest fighting crickets in the Daoguang period. Compare a snuff bottle of similar design from the Mary and George Bloch collection, illustrated in Moss, Graham and Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol.6, Arts of the Fire, Hong Kong, 2008, pp.690-691, no.1318, sold in these rooms, 28 November 2011, lot 164.
  
  
  清道光 1821-1850 瓷胎粉彩蟈蟈鼻煙壺 礬紅「道光年製」篆書款
  
  壺扁圓身，直徑，溜肩，橢圓形淺圈足，壺身兩面分別繪一隻蟈蟈伏於草地，草地中稀疏散落桃色花瓣，蟈蟈兩根觸鬚上下分別延伸至壺肩及近足處，意趣盎然。壺底礬紅書「道光年製」四字篆書款。
  
  此鼻煙壺與其他繪蟈蟈的例子有所不同。道光時期繪蟈蟈瓷胎煙壺一般多見兩類紋飾，一類無任何背景，只畫一隻蟈蟈在壺身兩面，另一類通常繪一裝蟈蟈的竹籠作為背景或裝飾。然而以草地及蟈蟈的組合的例子卻較為少見。
  
  蟈蟈在乾隆晚期便成為在鼻煙壺上較為流行的裝飾紋飾，大多則見於攜有「古月軒」款識的琺瑯彩料胎鼻煙壺之上。直至道光時期，此類主題便開始受到宮廷寵愛，隨之出現一批清宮定燒以蟈蟈為主題裝飾的瓷胎鼻煙壺。蟈蟈圖案的興起與中國喜飼養蟋蟀及蟈蟈的文化有必然聯繫，中國蟋蟀文化源遠流長，宋時盛行，至清代時已經極為講究，飼養除看中矯健的體型外，外觀顏色更是有尊卑之分。另一個以蟈蟈為裝飾的瓷胎鼻煙壺，見莫士撝, Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶著，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection 》，第6冊，第三部份，頁690-691，編號1318，後在香港邦瀚斯瑪麗及莊智博鼻煙壺珍藏：第四部分拍出，2011年11月28日，拍品編號164。

---

Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

---

Auction terms and conditions