A fine white jade 'four-xi' snuff bottle


18th/19th centuryOf tapered rectangular form raised on a quatrelobed foot, each side delicately carved in low relief with a shuangxi (double-happiness) character within canted egdes, each narrow side carved in high relief with a lion-mask handle suspending a fixed ring, the softly polished stone of an even white tone, coral stopper, wood stand. 6.4cm (2 1/2in) high. (3).
|十八/十九世紀 白玉雕四喜臨門鼻煙壺Provenance:An important European private collection, purchased from Spink & Son Ltd., on 8 December 1960Christie's London, 15 May 2012, lot 149Marchant, LondonExhibited, Published and Illustrated:Marchant, 90th Anniversary Exhibition: Ninety Jades for 90 Years, London, 2015, no.68來源：歐洲重要私人舊藏，1960年12月8日購於倫敦Spink & Son有限公司倫敦佳士得，2012年5月15日，拍品編號149倫敦Marchant展覽、出版及著錄：Marchant，《玉器九十，90週年特展》，倫敦，2015年，編號68Four xi characters form the ligature known as shuangxi, 'double happiness', which is a popular decorative symbol used in wedding celebrations.Compare with two undecorated white jade snuff bottles of similar form, each with a quatrelobed foot, illustrated in Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, p.173, nos.183 and 185.白玉質，潔白瑩潤，方壺形，前後兩面減地浮雕雙喜紋，兩側浮雕獅面鋪首，寓意四喜臨門，圈足倭腳，琢磨工整。配珊瑚壺蓋，蓋浮雕蟠螭紋。 鋪首之制可遠追先秦兩漢銅器，漢代以來鋪首釘在大門上作為敲門環，常作獸首銜環形。囍字為民間俗子，常用於婚慶裝飾。本品上大下小，四角倭角之形制可參考台北故宮所藏兩件青玉方壺式鼻煙壺，見《故宮鼻煙壺》，台北，1991年，頁173，編號183、185。