Footnotes

• Treasury 6, no. 1266
  
  瓷胎粉彩秋翁遇仙圖鼻煙壺
  茂春，景德鎮，礬紅「茂春雅製」篆書款，1796～1830
  
  A 'famille-rose' enamelled porcelain 'fictional figures' snuff bottle
  
  Famille rose enamels on colourless glaze on porcelain; with a convex lip and recessed flat circular foot surrounded by a protruding convex circular footrim; painted with a continuous scene from 'The Venerable Master Qiu's Encounter with Fairies'; the base with a band of formalized lingzhi echoed around the shoulders, the neck with a band of pendant leaf lappets; the lip gilt; the foot inscribed in iron-red seal script Maochun yazhi ('Elegantly made by Maochun'); the inner neck and interior glazed
  Maochun, Jingdezhen, 1796–1830
  Height: 7.9 cm
  Mouth/lip: 0.75/1.50 cm
  Stopper: glass, carved as a coiled chi dragon; glass collar
  
  Condition: Gold enamel on lip worn and some very minor abrasions to enamels from use; otherwise, kiln condition
  
  Provenance:
  Elite Antiques, Hong Kong, April 2005
  Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., July 2005
  
  Published:
  Treasury 6, no. 1266
  
  On Mao Chun, see Sale 2, lot 46. This is one of his rarer subjects and has the signature in seal script, which he used on only three of the works recorded so far, the rest being inscribed in regular script. The present scene is repeated at least once (Geng 1992, no. 175, with the signature in regular script). Geng identifies the subject: Qiuweng yuxian ji ('The Venerable Master Qiu's encounter with fairies'), collected in Xingshi hengyan (Sayings that arouse the world) edited by Feng Menglong (1574–1646). Old Master Qiu loves flowers so much that, moved by his passion, the Goddess of Flowers sends flower fairies to earth to help him solve problems. To show his gratitude, Old Master Qiu treasures flowers even more than before; he also performs many good deeds. Eventually he is elevated to be the 'Protector of Flowers' and becomes an immortal himself.
  
  As was common with uncompressed forms from the mid-Qing onwards, instead of being made in a two-part mould and joined vertically, this was formed from the open foot, and a separate foot was added later, the interior glaze helping to seal the joint.
  
  瓷胎粉彩秋翁遇仙圖鼻煙壺
  
  瓷胎無色釉上粉彩；凸唇，平斂底，突出凸形圈足；繪通體秋翁遇仙記的景色，肩、腹下部繪如意雲集頭一周，頸上部有垂葉紋一圈，唇鎏金，底書礬紅"茂春雅製"雙行無框篆款；內頸、內壁皆施釉
  茂春，景德鎮， 1796–1830
  高﹕ 7.9 厘米
  口徑/唇徑： 0.75/1.50 厘米
  蓋﹕ 玻璃，雕蟠螭；玻璃座
  
  狀態敘述： 唇上的金琺瑯呈磨擦，琺瑯彩因使用而呈微乎其微的擦傷；此外，出窯狀態
  
  來源:
  Elite Antiques, Hong Kong, April 2005
  Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., July 2005
  
  文獻﹕
  Treasury 6, 編號 1266
  
  本珍藏中茂春畫的還有如 第二場拍賣會，拍賣品號 46. 茂春署篆款的鼻煙壺只有三件，而且本壺的主題是他作品中罕見的。繪秋翁遇仙的至少有另外一件﹕耿寶昌、趙炳驊1992, 編號 175 （楷書款。）