Kangxi 1662-1722, Artemisia Leaf Mark

[George]

Does anyone have some experience with porcelain, and marks ?

I have read that the leaf mark indicates the Kangxi period.

I know absolutely nothihg about collecting procelain, and am curious if this bottle appears to be the age that the mark suggests.

The bottle looks old to me, but with all the reproductions out there, I have no way of knowing for sure and am thinking about adding this as a first porcelain bottle to my collection .

[Tom B.]

Hi George,

Actually there are no known Kangxi era porcelain snuff bottles. The few bottles which are in collections as Kangxi porcelain snuff bottles started off as Medicine bottles and were later converted to snuff use.  The same goes for Yongzheng (1723-1735) marked porcelain snuff bottles, they all date from the Daoguang (1821-1850) period or later.  The earliest porcelain snuff bottles made intentionally for snuff use were made in the early Qianlong (1736-1795) period.   However there are plenty of late Qing "Kangxi revival" porcelain snuff bottles to mix everyone up.  Your nice blue underglaze bottle is an example which dates circa 1880 - 1920.   

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Tom,
   I am sorry, but I beg to differ.
   First of all, since snuff was seen as a medicinal in the Qing Dynasty (while it was seen as deleterious to health in the late Ming, when snuff was first introduced into China, ca.1560), how exactly does one differentiate a 'medicine bottle' from a 'snuff bottle'? We do have positively documented Qing Imperial enamel ware snuff bottles from both the Kangxi and Yongzheng reigns, so why NOT porcelains as well?
  And, humbly, I will submit #91, Yongzheng mark and period; #87, Imperial Qianlong mark and period; #82, unmarked, but definitely Yongzheng/ Qianlong; #27, Yongzheng mark but Qianlong; and #2 & #3, both Qianlong period.
;-)
Joey