Antique Chinese Porcelain Snuff Bottle With Foo Dog and Agate Lid

Details

Description

A Chinese antique porcelain snuff bottle from the Qing dynasty, featuring a foo lion mother and her cub-lions painted in … Read more A Chinese antique porcelain snuff bottle from the Qing dynasty, featuring a foo lion mother and her cub-lions painted in reddish-orange iron red alum-red) overglaze. The artistic composition incorporates flowing fur details and wispy cloud vectors drifting around the body.

The snuff bottle is molded from white-glazed porcelain with a classic cylindrical body, a low foot, and a narrow mouth opening. It is topped with an agate cabochon style dome lid resting on a metal collar ring. The spoon is metal.

The foot is cut and very narrow, with excellent glaze control. It has a stamped Tongzhi reign mark on the base. The back side has a round export stamp from the 1980s, as well as a paper price tag.

Provenance: From the estate of Dr. Andres Onate, former Dean of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. Dr. Onate served in China for the US State Department in the early 1980s and again in the early 1990s. This item was purchased in Beijing circa 1982.

MEASUREMENTS
1 1/8 in (2.9 cm) diameter x 3 ¼ in (8.3 cm) tall. Weighs 1.7 oz.

CONDITION
The body has no chips or cracks, except a lot the very tips of the foot ring where it was chipped from the kiln. There is light-moderate wear to the red enamels. The carnelian on the lid has a scratch, but the lid is in otherwise very good condition. The snuff spoon is slightly bent.

An authentic late-Qing dynasty collectible, notable for its well-executed iron-red artistry and intact period appointments, with its 20th-century export markings providing an excellent, traceable provenance. See less