A FAMILLE ROSE ENAMELED PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE
Imperial, attributed to the Palace Kilns, Jingdezhen, 1821-1850
Of ovoid form with shoulders sloping to a cylindrical neck, decorated using famille rose enamels with a scene of Meng Haoran astride his mule passing by a blossoming prunus tree, his attendant walking at their side carrying a branch of prunus blossom over his shoulder, continued on the reverse with a stone bridge spanning a river with flowering trees growing beside rockwork on one bank, the base with an iron-red four-character Daoguang nianzhi mark in seal script and of the period; stopper.
2 3/8in (6cm) high
Footnotes:
1821-1850 瓷胎粉彩孟浩然尋梅圖鼻煙壺一件
御製 或爲景德鎮御窯製
《道光年製》篆書款

Provenance:
Y.F. Yang and Co., May 1986
Joan and Ted Dorf Collection, no. 142

A great many porcelain bottles with enamel decoration were made during the Daoguang period, both being produced in the Imperial Kilns and by local potters also in Jingdezhen. Both groups were made with Daoguang nianzhi marks thus complicating the process of differentiating between those that were destined for the court and those that went into the hands of wealthy merchants. This bottle, with its fine enameling is a likely candidate for the Palace. With its finely potted body, detailed decoration and well-written mark it would, in all probability, have been made in the Imperial Kilns as part of a larger order for the Palace.

Good condition with fine painting; minor wear to the enamels.