Period:Unknown Production date:17thC-18thC (?)
Materials:silver
Technique:gilded, relief,
Subjects:equestrian bird architecture boat/ship tree/bush landscape dog
Dimensions:Height: 8.30 centimetres
Description:
Silver-gilt scent-bottle with a pull-out stopper. On either side is a panel of waved outline decorated with Chinese motifs in relief on a finely ring-matted ground. On one side are two figures crossing a bridge to a building, two more figures in a boat and a landscape of rocks and flowering trees. On the other side are a figure on a horse, a dog, flowering trees and birds.
IMG
![图片[1]-perfume-bottle BM-1978-1002.92-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/43/mid_00812983_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-perfume-bottle BM-1978-1002.92-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Unknown/43/mid_00812964_001.jpg)
Comments:Text from catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift (Gere et al 1984) no 414: Chinese silver or, indeed, metal scent-bottles of this date are rarely recorded and no documented parallels for this scent-bottle have yet been traced. The composition of the scenes and the figure-style are reminiscent of Chinese theatrical scenes and episodes from popular stories depicted on Chinese porcelain and lacquer ware, both well known in Europe at this date. It is thus possible that this piece is European, faithfully copying Oriental designs; the composition bears little resemblance to the imaginative inventions of European chinoiserie. There is a small group of related objects, none of which can be attributed with any certainty to either a European or an Oriental origin, although some have possible English origins or associations. A silver box in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Metalwork, M.700-1926; L9.8cm, see Fig.25), traditionally associated with Nell Gwynn on account of a later inscription of 1720 on the base, is decorated with a relief scene on a matted ground, incorporating similar figures in a landscape with flowering trees, buildings and birds. The interior of the box bears an unidentified English maker’s mark (PD crowned) and it has been published variously as English c.1685 (see Oman 1965, pl.90a&b) and as either Chinese or copied from a Chinese original (see Crosby, Forbes, Kernan & Wilkins 1975, p.52). Another piece with English marks, that is, London hallmarks for 1682-3, is a hexagonal silver teapot with similar decoration in panels of waved outline, as on the scent bottle (see C. Jackson 1911, II, p.945). The teapot is claimed by Crosby, Forbes, Kernan & Wilkins as characteristically Chinese, but unfortunately is known from illustration only. A.R.E. North has noted a circular snuff box (sold Sotheby’s, 27 November 1975, lot 62, as ‘late 17th century’), with an English coat-of-arms on the base and decorated on both lid and sides with similar relief scenes. This box seems closely derived from Chinese carved lacquer boxes, a suggestion which has also been made with reference to the Nell Gwynn box (Honour 1961, p.70). Michael Snodin has provided a further piece of evidence of the interchange of European and Oriental designs at this date: a design in the Prints and Drawings Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum (E.385-1926; see Fig.26) incorporates a hexagonal flask or tea-caddy on the left, with comparable figures in a landscape on a matted ground, amongst prunus blossom and birds, contained within panels of waved outline. The design is from a set of prints by C. de Moelder, sold in London in the late seventeenth century (1694, according to Honour 1861). However, in the absence of securely documented parallels, the origins of this scent-bottle and the previous item, 413, remain uncertain.
Materials:silver
Technique:gilded, relief,
Subjects:equestrian bird architecture boat/ship tree/bush landscape dog
Dimensions:Height: 8.30 centimetres
Description:
Silver-gilt scent-bottle with a pull-out stopper. On either side is a panel of waved outline decorated with Chinese motifs in relief on a finely ring-matted ground. On one side are two figures crossing a bridge to a building, two more figures in a boat and a landscape of rocks and flowering trees. On the other side are a figure on a horse, a dog, flowering trees and birds.
IMG
Comments:Text from catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift (Gere et al 1984) no 414: Chinese silver or, indeed, metal scent-bottles of this date are rarely recorded and no documented parallels for this scent-bottle have yet been traced. The composition of the scenes and the figure-style are reminiscent of Chinese theatrical scenes and episodes from popular stories depicted on Chinese porcelain and lacquer ware, both well known in Europe at this date. It is thus possible that this piece is European, faithfully copying Oriental designs; the composition bears little resemblance to the imaginative inventions of European chinoiserie. There is a small group of related objects, none of which can be attributed with any certainty to either a European or an Oriental origin, although some have possible English origins or associations. A silver box in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Metalwork, M.700-1926; L9.8cm, see Fig.25), traditionally associated with Nell Gwynn on account of a later inscription of 1720 on the base, is decorated with a relief scene on a matted ground, incorporating similar figures in a landscape with flowering trees, buildings and birds. The interior of the box bears an unidentified English maker’s mark (PD crowned) and it has been published variously as English c.1685 (see Oman 1965, pl.90a&b) and as either Chinese or copied from a Chinese original (see Crosby, Forbes, Kernan & Wilkins 1975, p.52). Another piece with English marks, that is, London hallmarks for 1682-3, is a hexagonal silver teapot with similar decoration in panels of waved outline, as on the scent bottle (see C. Jackson 1911, II, p.945). The teapot is claimed by Crosby, Forbes, Kernan & Wilkins as characteristically Chinese, but unfortunately is known from illustration only. A.R.E. North has noted a circular snuff box (sold Sotheby’s, 27 November 1975, lot 62, as ‘late 17th century’), with an English coat-of-arms on the base and decorated on both lid and sides with similar relief scenes. This box seems closely derived from Chinese carved lacquer boxes, a suggestion which has also been made with reference to the Nell Gwynn box (Honour 1961, p.70). Michael Snodin has provided a further piece of evidence of the interchange of European and Oriental designs at this date: a design in the Prints and Drawings Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum (E.385-1926; see Fig.26) incorporates a hexagonal flask or tea-caddy on the left, with comparable figures in a landscape on a matted ground, amongst prunus blossom and birds, contained within panels of waved outline. The design is from a set of prints by C. de Moelder, sold in London in the late seventeenth century (1694, according to Honour 1861). However, in the absence of securely documented parallels, the origins of this scent-bottle and the previous item, 413, remain uncertain.
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