Lecture and Viewing: Chinese Snuff Bottles
with Jen Lyn Low
An Invitation to Southeast Asian Ceramic Society members
Tuesday 4 March 2008
Cocktails and canapés at 6.30pm
Lecture at 7.30pm by Jen Lyn Low, specialist in Chinese snuff bottles, London
Christie’s Singapore, 501 Orchard Road, #19-03 Wheelock Place, Singapore
The top 15 lots from a collection of snuff bottles to be auctioned by Christies’ New York on 19 March 2008 was brought to Singapore by Ms Jen Lyn Low, specialist in Chinese snuff bottles, London.
A catalogue of the entire collection was available in Singapore on the viewing evening. Among the highlights was an Imperial Beijing enamel ‘European Subject’ snuff bottle, Palace Workshops, Beijing, Qianlong four-character mark in blue enamel and of the period, 1736-1750 (estimate: $250,000-300,000). Another gem was an exquisite Imperial enameled glass snuff bottle, Palace Workshops, Beijing, Qianlong four-character mark in blue enamel and of the period, 1750-1770, (estimate: $150,000-200,000). The delicacy in the use of the enamels on glass is a key feature of Palace enameling, allowing for considerable subtlety of expression. On view was also an inside-painted crystal snuff bottle, by renowned artist Ma Shaoxuan, Beijing (estimate: $120,000-140,000), bearing a portrait of Zhang Qian (1853-1926), a former associate of Yuan Shikai’s.
Also highly priced was an Imperial emerald-green and lavender jadeite snuff bottle, Imperial, Palace Workshops, Beijing, 1760-1820 (estimate: $80,000-120,000), which was highly prized as it combined two of the most sought-after colours in a single specimen. Two other examples of enameled porcelain snuff bottles are Imperial, Jingde Zhen kilns, Qianlong four character seal mark in iron-red and of the period, 1736-1795 (estimate: $80,000-120,000), and a rare Jiaqing-marked example.
Presented by Christies’ Singapore.
