C28 A “Qin Qiong selling his horse” snuff bottle

Description

Description:  Chinese snuff bottle of cylindrical form, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and copper red with a story about Qin Qiong, a warrior in the late Sui dynasty (AD 589 – 618). The story says that once, Qin Qiong fell ill during a journey and exhausted all his financial resources on his medical bills, lodging and food. He is forced to sell his weapons and later, his horse. The motif of this bottle shows this transaction. Qin Qiong is the middle character holding a fan. On his left is his horse with the innkeeper beside it. The innkeeper is helping him to sell the horse to settle his outstanding bills. On his right is the potential buyer, Shan Xiongxin and his attendant. Fortunately for Qin Qiong, Shan was an admirer of Qin Qiong for his heroic deeds and so he ended up helping Qin Qiong financially. In the end, Qin did not have to sell his favorite horse. Later Qin Qiong became a famous army general and helped Li Shimin to establish the Tang dynasty (AD 618 – 907). In fact, Qin Qiong was one of Li’s favourite generals that he even drew his portrait together with another general to guard his palace doors. Hence the Chinese culture of door guardians began and it eventually spread to the commoners as well.

Mark:  No mark

Dating:  19^th century

Material:  Porcelain, glazed inside.

Size:  83 mm high

Stopper:  White jade stopper with bone spoon

Provenance:  Antiquarian market

References:

Notes:  The underglaze copper red here has been masterfully fired in order to obtain an uniform brown color.