Description: 
A fine and rare Kangxi mark and period porcelain snuff bottle, ca. 1662-1722. Dimensions: approximately 3-1/8" tall. Weight: (approx.) 4.4oz. A sturdy little bottle with round body, squared shoulder and wasted neck. Finely executed and painted in rich under-glaze enamel colors, predominately cobalt-blue and red. Decorated with a scene of a boy offering a girl, (who is hiding shyly behind her father), flowers and with butterflies fluttering nearby. The bottle is signed with an Artemisia leaf mark/signature under-glaze cobalt-blue.

During the early Qing dynasty, up until the early 1680's conditions were unsettled in China and the existence of Imperial wares as well as the use of reign marks on porcelain was restricted in various ways. During this period a number of different marks came into use including this Artemisia leaf mark.

Condition: Very Fine, no injury, museum quality