RARE ET IMPORTANTE TABATIÈRE INSCRITE EN AGATE

This bottle belongs to a series of agate snuff bottles bearing a four-character seal mark of Qianlong and inscribed with poems. These bottle only differ in that some are inscribed with a yuzhi ('by Imperial command') mark, and other like this one with a nianzhi ('made in the period') mark. They also differ in that some inscriptions are inlaid with gold like this one and some are not.

Compare to two close Qianlong-marked examples, one (with a yuzhi mark) sold at Christie’s New York, 20 September 2005, lot 445 and one sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2928. A last smaller example (5.5 cm.) is illustrated in Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, p. 275, no. 216; where it bears the four-character seal mark on the base characteristic of Palace Workshop production. Another example of smaller size is illustrated in The Imperial Connection, Court Related Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Humphrey K. F. Hui Collection, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998, n°89. See also a similar bottle in the J & J collection, published online by Hugh Moss on e-yaji.com, n° 31.3.660. The bottle has also been published in Oriental Art, 49/3 (2003), 65, fig. 4, Chinese Arts Auction Records: 2005Antiques 1/1/04 – 12/31/04 (Taipei), 8-30, CANS Yishu xinwen, no. 171 (April 2012), 166 and JICSBS, 44/3 (Winter 2012), 5, fig. 5.