China, 1780-1840. The ovoid body tapering towards the short oval foot and surmounted by a slightly flared neck with flat everted lip. The exterior finely enameled with a continuous scene depicting to one side a scholar reading a book at a rockwork table, with a farmer carrying a hoe standing behind him, and to the other with a fisherman angling while a woodcutter carrying brushwood on his back looks on, all amid craggy rocks and towering trees. The neck decorated with a key-fret band and the matching stopper with a floral spray.

Provenance: From a French private collection.
Condition: Good condition with some wear, the enamels with some flaking and losses with associated minor old repairs. Few small nicks and light scratches.

Stopper: Matching enamel stopper, carved spoon
Weight: 58.8 g
Dimensions: Height incl. stopper 73 mm, Diameter neck 16 mm and mouth 6 mm

The recessed base with a blue-enameled four-character mark Qianlong nianzhi.

According to Confucian principles, the country is sustained when all 'Four Noble Professions' (fishing, woodcutting, farming, and scholarly endeavors) are in harmony. This concept originated around the time of the Han dynasty. All four occupations were equally honorable, as the present bottle strikingly captures, as all were needed for the culture to survive and prosper. See Michael C. Hughes, The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin: Chinese Snuff Bottles (Baltimore, 2009), pp.270-271, No. 208.