A molded and enamelled porcelain figural snuff bottle, 1796-1820. photo courtesy Sotheby's
molded and decorated in famille-rose enamels as Liu Hai stepping forward with one leg raised and wearing an iron-red gilt-decorated robe over turquoise enamelled trousers, strings of cash in his hands, and with his three-legged toad perched on his shoulder; height 2 1/2 in., 6.4 cm. Estimate 8,000—12,000 USD. Lot Sold 10,000 USD
PROVENANCE: Nelly Davies.
NOTE: Lui Hai appears to have been a popular subject for figural snuff bottles of the late 18th and early 19th century and several different molded versions are published. These include a different model with one foot raised in The Crane Collection, www.thecranecollection.com, no. 235; a model with both feet in the ground illustrated by Clare Lawrence, Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom: The Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, London, 1996, pp. 186-7, no. 87; and a bottle colored in a palette similar to the present example in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, illustrated by Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Tokyo, 1976, no. 314.
Sotheby's. The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 14 Sep 10, New York www.sothebys.com.
