On view
Asian Art
Huo Pavilion
Huo Pavilion
Snuff bottle decorated with leaf foliage and painted with European figures,
1644–1795
Chinese
Qing dynasty, Qianlong reign period, 1736–1795
y1936-705
More Context
Special Exhibition
<p>European figures are painted in famille rose enamels on these snuff bottles produced in the palace workshops in Beijing. During the Qianlong emperor’s reign objects depicting European women and children were popular. The blue, red, and orange-yellow palette likely derives from European enamels brought as gifts to the Chinese royal court from France and Switzerland. </p>
Information
Title
Snuff bottle decorated with leaf foliage and painted with European figures
Dates
1644–1795
Medium
Copper with enamels
Dimensions
h. with stopper 5.6 cm., w. 3.8 cm., d. 2.3 cm. (2 3/16 x 1 1/2 x 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Col. James A. Blair, Class of 1903
Object Number
y1936-705
Place Made
Asia, China, Beijing
Inscription
Imperial mark in blue on base
Marks/Labels/Seals
Qianlong four-character· blue-enamel mark and of the period
Culture
Period
Type
[A. W. Bahr (1869–1959)]; [American Art Galleries, New York, A. W. Bahr Collection Sale, January 17–19, 1916, lot 57]; purchased at the above sale by Col. James A. Blair, Class of 1903 (1860–1934), 1916–1934; bequeathed to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1936.
Snuff bottle with European lady and boy designs
- Cary Y. Liu, "Asian Art Collection: From Exotica to Art and History," in "An Art Museum for Princeton: The Early Years", special issue, Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 55, no. 1/2 (1996): 125–134., p. 125, fig. 1
- Michael C. Hughes, The Blair Bequest: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum (Baltimore: The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 2002), cat. 308, p. 225, illus.
- Michael Cook, A brief history of the human race, (New York; London: W. W. Norton, 2003)., p. 233; fig. 21 (right)
