A fine and extremely rare Imperial  turquoise-inlaid doubleheaded gold medecine bottle. Seal markd and period of Qianlong. Photo Sotheby's

thoughtfully designed to gently fit in the palm of the hand with a curved rectangular form containing two chambers opening from both ends, one main side of the exterior inlaid in turquoise with four characters in seal script reading Taiping ruyi ('Peace and fulfillment of all wishes'), the reverse decorated with three repoussé bats in flight among wisps of scrolling clouds, both sides reserved on wan-diaper grounds and enclosed within a beaded-edge frame, the narrow sides detailed with a key-fret-diaper pattern, surmounted on each of the short ends by a facetted neck collared by a four-character reign mark with one character per side, each of the square fitted screw stoppers with a coral-inset knop and slender spoon deftly designed to align with the square necks, stand; 12.3 cm., 4 7/8 in. The gold tested as 18k. Estimation 9,000,000-12,000,000 HKD. Unsold

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: Medicine bottles cast in gold, known in China as one of the three 'noble' metals (the other two being silver and bronze), are rare; even more unusual are those that bear an imperial reign mark as seen on the present piece. Small, delicate and unique in its form, it appears to be modelled on rectangular banners used for decoration at special celebratory banquets or weddings. It is expertly cast with a thick gold body and finished in a style characteristic of 18 th century Imperial gold accessories made in the Palace Workshops (Zaobanchu) under the supervision of the Imperial Household Department (Neiwufu). The Palace Workshop was responsible for the making of items for the personal use of the Emperor and his family.

The use of turquoise inlay decoration on gold was highly favoured by Qianlong and a number of gold pieces decorated in this manner are known; for example, see three small boxes fashioned in gold filigree and decorated with peaches and bats in turquoise inlay, illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Miniature Crafts in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, pl. 41. Two further gold boxes were included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Arts of the Ch'ing Dynasty, London, 1964, cat. no. 355, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and cat. no. 356, were sold in our London rooms, 21st June 1983, lot 15, from the collections of Her late Majesty Queen Mary and H.M. Knight. 

Compare also the turquoise inlay work depicting bats and the bajixiang (Eight Buddhist Symbols) on a gold ruyi sceptre, in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., illustrated in R. Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese Art. The Minor Arts, London, 1963, pl. 19, attributed to the 18th century. A gold hair accessory cast in a manner closely related to that seen on the present bottle with a relief decoration of antiques on a wan ground, in the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Museum, is published in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji, vol. 3, Shijiazhuang, 2004, pl.325. 

The medicine bottle often resembles the snuff bottle form. For examples of gold snuff bottles, see one, the body cast in gold and painted with enamels with a raised gold lappet band around the shoulder, of the Qianlong period and attributed to the Palace Workshop, illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, London, 1995, p. 14, pl. 7. An engraved gold snuff bottle was included in the exhibition A Study of Chinese Snuff Bottles, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1983, cat. no. 191; and another chased in relief with a continuous flowering scroll design, attributed to the late Qing dynasty, is published in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, London, 1995, pl. 369.

The decoration of three bats on a wan ground represents the wish for 'ten thousand blessings. The bat represents 'blessings' while the word for 'ten-thousand' in Chinese is pronounced wan. The inlaid four-character inscription is also an auspicious message, wishing peace and for all the emperor's wishes to come true.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Hong Kong | 04 avr. 2012 www.sothebys.com