An exquisite 5cm high ‘famille-rose’ enamelled-copper with gold ‘European ladies with children’ snuff bottle sold for HK$4,820,000. Photo: Bonhams

HONG KONG.- Bonhams Hong Kong achieved an unprecedented fifth sell out auction of the celebrated Snuff Bottles from the Mary & George Bloch Collection with the sale of Part V today, 27 May 2012 at a packed saleroom at the Island Shangri-La Hotel.

Hot on the heels of the extraordinary success achieved from the sales of Parts I to IV in which every single snuff bottle from the collection has been sold, with world records broken in 11 different categories, Bonhams sold all 168 bottles from Part V of the collection for a total of HK$42,423,000, exceeding its high pre-sale estimate of HK$40,000,000.

As expected, Imperial ‘Famille-rose’ enamel on copper with gold snuff bottles made in the Beijing palace workshops took the top spots of the sale. Lot 38, an exquisite 5cm high ‘famille-rose’ enamelled-copper with gold ‘European ladies with children’ snuff bottle sold for HK$4,820,000, while another ‘famille-rose’ enamelled copper with gold snuff bottle, this time lot 167 a 4.9cm high one showing ‘figures in mansion’, sold for HK$3,620,000. Both were made for the Qianlong emperor between 1736-1775. Coming in at HK$3,020,000 was lot 148, a 5.02cm high ‘famille-rose’ enamel on copper with gold snuff bottle featuring ‘European subject’ made by imperial command of the Kangxi emperor between 1705-1718.

A 'famille-rose' enamel on copper with gold 'figures in mansion' snuff bottle. Imperial, palace workshops, Beijing, Kangxi blue-enamelled four-character mark and of the period, 1705–1718. 4.9cm high. Lot 167. Estimate: HK$ 2.5 million - 4.5 million / US$ 320,000 - 580,000 / £200,000 - 360,000. Sold for HK$ 3.6 million. Photo Bonhams

A 'famille-rose' enamel on copper with gold 'European subject snuff bottle. Imperial, palace workshops, Beijing, Qianlong blue-enamelled four-character mark and of the period, 1736–1775. Photo Bonhams

5.02cm high. Lot 148. Sold for HK$ 3.0 million

Treasury 6, no. 1078 

銅胎畫琺瑯西洋母子圖鼻煙壺
御製品，宮廷作坊作，北京，藍彩「乾隆年製」楷書款，1736～1775

A 'famille-rose' enamelled-copper 'European ladies with children' snuff bottle

Famille rose enamels on copper, with gold; with a flat lip and slightly concave foot surrounded by a flat footrim; painted on each main side with an irregular oval panel of European subjects, one a seated woman with a young boy, an elaborate, castellated building and trees in the hilly background, the other a standing woman holding a flower in her left hand, also with a young boy, buildings, trees and shrubbery beyond, the blue skies of each panel with clouds, each panel framed by two stylized butterflies, their elongated wings touching, the panels surrounded by a formalized floral design of millefleurs on a brown ground; the foot inscribed in blue regular script, Qianlong nian zhi ('Made during the Qianlong era'); the interior covered with a patchy, turquoise-blue enamel, the exposed metal with traces of original gilding 
Imperial, palace workshops, Beijing, 1736–1775
Height: 5.02 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.71/1.24 cm
Stopper: gilt bronze, chased with a formalized floral design

Condition: Some mild enamel separation at the surface, part of the original process of manufacture; gold worn from all exposed copper surfaces. General relative condition: unusually excellent

Provenance: Alex S. Cussons
Hugh M. Moss, Ltd. (1978)
Belfort Collection (1986)

Published: L'Estampille, no. 106, February 1979, p. 42
JICSBS, March 1979, front cover
Jutheau 1980, p. 57, figs. 4, 5, and 6
Kleiner 1987, no. 5
Kleine Schätze aus China, p. 5
JICSBS, Autumn 1989, p. 22, fig. 10
Kleiner 1994a, p. 14, fig. 2.1
Kleiner 1995, no. 5
Treasury 6, no. 1078

Exhibited: Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, October 1987
Creditanstalt, Vienna, May–June 1993
British Museum, London, June–October 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July–November 1997

Stylistically and technically, this example is obviously part of the early phase of Qianlong enamelling. It has a typical early millefleurs design surrounding the main panels, equally well-drawn and elaborate, though set on a rare brown ground that makes it distinctive. There are hints of mid-reign style, however, in the painting and, particularly, in the simpler neck and foot bands. During the mid-reign, although elaborate neck and base borders are still common, there is a gradual trend towards simpler designs, culminating in their complete elimination on the double-plane Guyue xuan wares of, for example, Sale 1, lot 135 and Sale 2, lot 77, produced at some time during the last three decades of the century. These differences may reflect no more than the preferences of a different designer during the earlier phase, but we expect they will turn out to have some chronological significance. 

The butterflies, with their elongated wings, are a rare departure from standard palace framing devices, but butterflies turn up frequently as the main decoration on palace enamels from the Kangxi through to the end of the Qianlong era. 

The disparity in the gilding suggest that this is not the original stopper, although old and appropriate, which makes it a little unlikely that the spoon is original as well, although it is of the correct style.

Numerous snuff bottles were sold at multiple times their estimates, with a jadeite one selling for HK$1,460,000 against pre-sale estimates of HK$800,000-900,000 and an inscribed hornbill ‘Ma Gu’ snuff bottle selling for HK$1,340,000, four times its estimate of HK$350,000-400,000. 

A jadeite snuff bottle, 1780–1880.  Photo Bonhams

Julian King, Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art at Bonhams Hong Kong, commented on the results, and Bonhams’ place at the forefront of collectables in China and Hong Kong, ‘Bonhams has been setting world record prices with the sale of the Mary and George Bloch Collection, since the first sale took place in May 2010, in Hong Kong. As the leading auction house in the world for Chinese snuff bottles, we are very pleased with the results of Part V of the collection. As a growing number of collectors vie for the best snuff bottles, their value has remained steady. Over the last decade prices have increased over fourfold making this collectable a highly portable alternative investment’