China, 1736-1795. The compressed globular body rising from a waisted foot with slightly concave base surrounded by a protruding flat foot rim to a short cylindrical neck. Superbly painted in bright enamels to one side with a bird perched on a thin branch and looking toward a butterfly, above blossoming lotus and peony, and to the other with two birds perched on a gnarled branch amid peony, prunus, bamboo, and a butterfly. The panels are surrounded by a finely incised gilt copper relief design, the immediate frame foliate and further decorations in the form of fruiting leafy branches. The neck with raised gilt-copper ruyi-heads enclosing scrolling vines below a key-fret border painted in iron-red against a white ground, the scrolling vines repeated on the foot below similar raised gilt-copper strips. The base with a blue-enameled four-character mark Qianlong nianzhi and of the period. Note the unusually massive gilding to exposed copper.

Provenance: From an English private collection.
Condition: Superb and absolutely original condition with no restorations or repairs of any kind (inspected under strong blue light). Some old wear and shallow surface scratches as well as microscopic hairlines and other manufacturing flaws, such as minor pitting. The base with a minor tint of copper oxidation. Please contact the department for high resolution and daylight images, as these will further confirm the excellent overall condition.

Stopper: Carved pink translucent Beijing glass
Weight: 29.3 g
Dimensions: Height incl. stopper 55 mm, Diameter neck 12 mm and mouth 4 mm

This snuff bottle is one of the true masterpieces of Palace enameling. Of slender, elegant form ideally matched with a powerfully disposed subject, coupled with complete technical control of the medium. The traditional Chinese figural subject is painted entirely in Western manner, which makes it even rarer than its European subject counterparts.

By the reign of the Emperor Qianlong, between 1736 and the 1750s, the Palace enameling workshops had reached their peak in mastering the manufacture and painting of overglaze enamels. A combination of intense Imperial interest, the fruits of the Kangxi and Yongzheng Emperors' contributions to enameling in the various media, and proliferation of both Court artists and Jesuit missionaries involved in designing and painting the wares, resulted in a short zenith for the art. The present example, dating from the early Qianlong period, epitomizes this pinnacle in the Chinese production of enamels on copper.

Expert’s note: The incredible quality of the painting seen in the present bottle is practically unheard of both in its fineness and detail, even by the illustrious standards of the Imperial Palace workshops. Thus, looking at the painting through a 10x magnification (and upwards) does not in any way diminish the breathtaking visual appearance.

Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Imperial enamel snuff bottle - in restored condition, with similar gilt-metal decorations and framing of the panels, but with European subjects and a brownish-black enameled four-character Qianlong mark and of the period, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 May 2013, lot 258.

乾隆御製鎏金銅胎畫琺瑯開光花鳥圖鼻煙壺 ，《乾隆年製》款
中國, 1736-1795年。扁圓形，圓腹圈足，蓋頂雕花瓣紋，與瓶身為子母口緊緊密合。頸部鎏金如意紋，内有汎紅琺琅描繪卷葉紋。壺體兩面八瓣花形開光，其內以琺瑯分別彩繪兩幅《花鳥圖》，鮮花艷麗，春意盎然，小鳥與蝴蝶生動活潑。開光外黑地鎏金卷草紋。橢圓圈足鎏金，内可見四字“乾隆年製“ 楷書款。

來源：英國私人收藏
品相：狀況極好，絕對原始狀態，沒有任何修復或修補（在強藍光下檢查）。一些磨損和表面淺划痕以及微小的細紋和其他製造缺陷，例如輕微的點蝕。 底座有輕微的銅氧化色。請垂詢團隊獲得高清圖片和自然光下拍攝的圖片。

瓶蓋: 雕刻的半透明粉色琉璃
重量：29.3 克
尺寸：縂高55 毫米，頸部直徑 12 毫米，壺口直徑4 毫米

這件鼻煙壺是御製鎏金銅胎畫琺瑯的真正傑作之一。 纖細、優雅的表現形式與花鳥主題完美結合，特別是對材料媒介的掌握。中國傳統花鳥題材結合西方方式描繪，這使得它比歐洲題材的同類作品更為罕見。

到乾隆年間，即 1736 年至 1750 年代，宮廷琺瑯作坊在掌握釉上彩的製作和繪畫方面達到了頂峰。 因爲濃厚的興趣，康熙和雍正皇帝對琺瑯藝術做出貢獻的成果，他們參與設計，也因此在人數上，宮廷琺琅繪畫藝術家和傳教士畫師激增。 本拍品可追溯至乾隆初期，是中國銅胎琺瑯工藝的巔峰之作。

專家注釋：本拍品的花鳥圖精美絕倫，其精細程度實屬聞所未聞，即使以皇宮作坊的嚴格標準來衡量也是如此。 通過 10 倍放大看欣賞畫也不會有任何缺陷，真是令人嘆為觀止。

文獻比較：比較一件經過修復後的御製琺琅鼻烟壺，相似鎏金紋飾和開光，但是開光内可見西洋人物以及褐色地，乾隆四字款及年代，見香港蘇富比2013年5月26日, lot 258。