A CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER ‘DRAGON’ SNUFF BOTTLE, PROBABLY IMPERIAL, 1780-1860China. Thepressed globular body supported on a thick oval foot with concave base and rising to a short tapered neck, deeply carved to each side with a writhing chilong dragon amid ruyi-shaped clouds framed by archaistic scroll, the short sides further with phoenix heads, the neck with a band of alternating stiff leaves and ruyi-clouds.Provenance: From an English private collection.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, expected tiny age cracks, few minuscule nicks.Stopper: Turquoise matrixWeight: 57 gDimensions: Height incl. stopper 67 mm. Diameter neck 15 mm and mouth 6 mmThe gold and black lacquered base incised with an apocryphal four-character markXuande nianzhi.Expert’s note: This is one of a series of cinnabar lacquer snuff bottles of a distinctive style and may be the mid-Qing continuation of a well-known, eighteenth-century imperial group. Although many of the group are decorated with figural subjects, several are also known with other motifs. The wide variation in subject matter is hardly surprising for a group that probably remained a popular imperial staple for over half a century. Whatever the subject, stylistic links are found in a number of details throughout the series. Since many of this group would have been made to be distributed as gifts, appealing subject matter in the way of illustrations from popular stories or legends, famous figures of antiquity, and any generally auspicious symbolism was appropriate. That way, a bottle could be taken from the imperial storehouse and presented to anyone without the need for a specific order with precisely targeted symbolism. Lacquer making is a longish process in any case, but if the snuff bottles in question were made at Suzhou or elsewhere in the south, months of traveling time and additional bureaucratic detail would accrue between manufacture and the gift-giving occasion. In any situation where orders had to be placed long in advance of the final object’s distribution, generalized symbolism was convenient, if not essential.Auction resultparison:Type: RelatedAuction: Christie’s New York, 17 September 2008, lot 82Price: USD 8,125 or approx.EUR 10,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A carved cinnabar lacquer snuff bottle, probably imperial, 1780-1880Expert remark:pare the related subject, deep carving, and absence of diapered grounds. Note the size (6.6 cm).1780-1860年剔犀龍紋鼻煙壺，或爲御製中國。壺呈扁圓形，撇口，短頸，豐肩，腹下漸歛，橢圓形圈足。兩面各雕刻有一條飛龍，如意祥雲環繞，短邊刻有鳳頭，頸部有一條交替的卷葉紋和如意雲紋。