Lot 151
A GOLD 'ELEPHANT AND VASE' SNUFF BOTTLE 19th century
Amended
29 – 30 May 2022, 15:00 HKT
Hong Kong, Six Pacific PlaceHK$300,000 - HK$400,000
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A GOLD 'ELEPHANT AND VASE' SNUFF BOTTLE
19th century
The beast exquisitely cast with its head turned sharply to its left, with almond-shaped eyes and long curling trunk between sharp tusks, incised with floral scrolls and caparisoned with with ruyi-shaped edges, surmounted by a pear-shaped vase incised with floral scrolls, the base with Da de two-character mark, stopper, box. 5.5cm (2 1/8in) high. (2).
The beast exquisitely cast with its head turned sharply to its left, with almond-shaped eyes and long curling trunk between sharp tusks, incised with floral scrolls and caparisoned with with ruyi-shaped edges, surmounted by a pear-shaped vase incised with floral scrolls, the base with Da de two-character mark, stopper, box. 5.5cm (2 1/8in) high. (2).
Footnotes
十九世紀 金「太平有象」鼻烟壺
Provenance:
Youran Zhai Collection, Hong Kong
來源:
香港悠然齋珍藏
The 'vase' (ping 瓶) on the back of the elephant puns with 'peace' (ping 平), and elephant (xiang 象) which also means 'sign' or 'portent', forms a rebus for the phrase taiping youxiang (太平有象), meaning 'Where there is peace, there is an omen (or elephant).
Snuff bottles in gold are rare, but the shape of this elephant snuff bottle can be found in other materials such as glass. See for example two glass snuff bottles in similar forms of elephants, 19th century, illustrated by S.Kwan, The Muwen Tang Collection: Glass Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 2009, p.232 and 234.
寶象向來有審慎、智慧以及力量的象徵；背馱寶瓶則取意「太平有象」、「喜象昇平」。因此寶象此一瑞獸紋飾頗受清宮內廷之鍾愛，成為不少宮廷玉器、掐絲琺瑯器、鎏金銅器、以及青金石及象牙雕刻所用之題材。以金打造的鼻烟壺極爲罕見，相同題材和造型的例子可見兩例玻璃類鼻烟壺，載於《沐文堂收藏全集，卷十九：玻璃煙壺》，香港，2009年，頁232、234。
Saleroom notices
The result of Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectroscopy indicates the present lot is composed of 86% gold. X射線螢光光譜法檢測結果顯示本拍品的黃金含量為86%。
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