About This Forum

This snuff bottle community forum is dedicated to the novice, more experienced, and expert collectors. Topics are intended to cover all aspects and types of bottle collecting. To include trials, tribulations, identifying, researching, and much more.

Among other things, donations help keep the forum free from Google type advertisements, and also make it possible to purchases additional photo hosting MB space.

Forum Bottle in the Spotlight

Charll shared this beautiful Xianfeng (1851-1861) dated bottle depicting NeZha combating the Dragon King amongst a rolling sea of blue and eight mythical sea creatures.


Chinese Snuff Bottle Discussion Forum 中國鼻煙壺討論論壇
March 29, 2024, 12:16:09 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
 
  Home Help Search Contact Login Register  

Age of bottle

Pages: [1]
  Print  
Author Topic: Age of bottle  (Read 462 times)
0 Members and 11 Guests are viewing this topic.
caaronc
Guest
« on: March 01, 2012, 07:23:14 pm »

Hello everyone on the forum.. Had a question about a porcelain bottle I was looking to buy. The vendor told me it's between 1906 and 1926, and that it's a QianLong mark on the bottom of the bottle. Have looked for the mark, but cannot find one resembling it.  Have some pictures of the bottle. Would really appreciate it for any advice on it. Thanks...  Aaron


Report Spam   Logged

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

George
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Gender: Male
Posts: 11350


Test


WWW
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2012, 10:06:47 pm »

Hi Aaron ..

Ok,

The charactors do represent Qianlong, but I believe this to be much later.. Maybe 1960 or so.. Likely made in Hong Kong ..

Also.. I have read that it is extremely rare to have the charactors in a string like this as compared to the image below..

Four charactors strung like shown on your bottle are ( from what I read ) considered museum pieces.. Very rare..

Sorry to say.. Not what you have here..

This is just my two cents worth.. I am replying more out of practice looking up the info .. Good for me to try and learn , but will let the experts here share their thoughts..

« Last Edit: March 01, 2012, 10:21:56 pm by Bottle Guy » Report Spam   Logged

"Experience Each Experience To The Fullest To Obtain The Most Growth"

Snuff Bottle Journal
Tom B.
Private Boards
Hero Member
***
Gender: Male
Posts: 640



« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2012, 10:07:45 am »

Hi Aaron,

As George already told you, your bottle is marked with a Qianlong mark in formal script or kaishu.  During the Qianlong Emperor's long reign (1736 - 1795) only a few rare early (circa 1736 – 1745) examples of porcelain were marked with that type of writing in underglaze blue, he preferred seal marks using seal script or zhuanshu.  Kaishu Qianlong marks were used regularly in Qianlong’s other Imperial workshops, working in materials such as carved lacquer, glass, bronze, etc. Most of the kaishu Qianlong marks have been done in the square format that George showed us, often with a single line or double line square drawn around it.  

So if you see a kaishu Qianlong mark in underglaze blue, it almost certainly will be 20th century.  They don’t show up regularly until the 1950’s or later.  The shape and glaze suggest that it is a modern snuff bottle made in the last 20 years.  The glaze reminds me of the practice of using a golden brown background on Inside Painted Snuff Bottles to give them artificial aging.

George mentioned "decorated in Hong Kong" and it is true of a large amount of porcelain decorated in Hong Kong workshops by expatriated workers from Jingdezhen.  Your snuff bottle was decorated in underglaze blue, so it was decorated where it was made.  There is at least one factory making small porcelain objects in Hong Kong for the last 20 years, but they usually use a "W L 1895" mark. I would think that it was probably made somewhere in China, probably Jingdezhen, during the last 20 years.

Best regards,

Tom
Report Spam   Logged

Best regards,

Tom B.

Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司
Private Boards
Hero Member
***
Gender: Male
Posts: 11283


« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2012, 12:22:43 pm »

Dear Aaron,
    I agree with George and Tom. On larger pieces of porcelain, one could find a mark like yours on the front face of the vessel. This was especially in the Ming Dynasty, but also in Qing. I have an incense burner with a Jiaqing (1796-1820) Imperial mark in underglaze blue on white, across the front of the vessel. On a snuff bottle, it would always, or almost always, be in a square format, as was illustrated here, and as Tom says, almost always in archaic script, not standard script like the bottle you illustrated.
Best, Shabbat Shalom, Joey
Report Spam   Logged

Joey Silver (Si Zhouyi 義周司), collecting snuff bottles since Feb.1970

caaronc
Guest
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2012, 08:00:29 pm »

Thanks guys for the info. Decided not to buy the bottle . Didnt like the fact of the vendor not knowing his info. But do appreciate the advice. Have learned a lot from this site. Thanks.. Aaron
Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal