A RETICULATED WHITE PORCELAIN 'BA JIXIANG' SNUFF BOTTLE

Crackled creamy-white glaze on molded and carved porcelain; reticulated, double body, the interior unglazed. China, 1790–1820

The outer body molded with a continuous design of Eight Buddhist Emblems on a ground of formalized clouds framed between a base band of formalized lingzhi, above a band of raised dots, and a shoulder design of formalized lingzhi beneath a band of continuous leiwen (thunder pattern) with a band of raised dots at the upper-neck; all exterior surfaces of the outer body covered with glaze. The inner body covered with a thin wash of glaze.

To make the inner body, a flat sheet of still-malleable porcelain was placed into the half-body mold and pressed into it until it assumed the form. Once both halves were made, the two were joined vertically and bonded with slip. The outer body would then have been made in the same manner, but from two different molds, since the design is not the same on each main side. Again, these were put together at the narrow sides with slip and fixed by hand to the inner body. Once the bottle was leather hard, further detailing and carving would have been undertaken, particularly to remove any trace of the join from the exterior, but also to add the finer details as necessary. Then it remained only to glaze and fire it. It should also be noted that the additional handwork involved in piercing through the upper body often makes it more difficult with this type of bottle to judge whether different exemplars come from the same mold or not.

Shape: Flattened round shape
Hollowing: Standard
Mouth, neck and lip: Sprawling neck with slanted lip and flat, glazed top
Base: Oval, concave base surrounded by a convex foot rim
Design, marks, school: Probably Imperial, Jingdezhen kilns
Stopper: Honey-colored agate
Height of the bottle with stopper: 7.5 cm.
Width of the mouth: 7 mm.
Width of the neck: 19 mm.
Condition: Two chips and some nibbling to lip, further nibbling throughout the design, some hairlines, on one shoulder the mold joint line is visible
Provenance: Old Austrian private collection, acquired before 1930, thence by descent

Literature comparison: THE MARY AND GEORGE BLOCH COLLECTION. Bonhams, Hong Kong, November 23rd, 2010, lot 48. (for an almost identical bottle, also illustrated in Treasury 6, no. 1194) Bob C. Stevens, The Collectors Book of Snuff Bottles, Weatherhill, New York, 1980, lot 26. (for another, almost identical bottle)

1790–1820年間鏤空白瓷"八吉祥"鼻烟壺
瓶口一兩道小缺口和一些劃痕，瓶身有一些劃痕細紋，肩部有明顯可見划紋
奧地利私人老收藏，1930年前購入，家族傳承