BONHAMS SELLS IMPERIAL ENAMELED SNUFF BOTTLE FOR £821,383

A TINY SNUFF BOTTLE MEASURING JUST 1.6 INCHES HIGH HAS SOLD RECENTLY FOR NEARLY £1 MILLION, SMASHING ALL PREVIOUS RECORDS. THE BEAUTIFUL ENAMEL BOTTLE MADE FOR CHINA'S EMPEROR QIANLONG IN THE 18th CENTURY WAS PART OF A STUNNING COLLECTION PUT TOGETHER BY GEORGE AND MARY BLOCH. IT WAS HOPED IT MIGHT SELL FOR £25,000 BUT FURIOUS BIDDING SAW THE PRICE RISE BEYOND ANYONE'S EXPECTATIONS. THE SALE PROVES THE STRENGTH OF THE CHINESE MARKET. THE SMALL ENAMEL BOTTLE SHOWS ON ONE SIDE A WOMAN AND A YOUNG BOY WITH AN ELABORATE BUILDING AND TREES IN THE BACKGROUND. ON THE OTHER SIDE IS A WOMAN WITH A BASKET OF FLOWERS AND FRUIT AND ANOTHER YOUNG BOY, WITH BUILDINGS AND THE TREE-CLAD BANKS OF A STREAM BEHIND HER. ALL THE FIGURES LOOK EUROPEAN AND THE CONDITION OF TE PIECE WAS DESCRIBED AS 'PERFECT'. THE PRICE PAID BY AN ANONYMOUS COLLECTOR WAS £821,383. THE SALE WAS AT BONHAMS' FIRST EVER GOLDEN GAVEL AUCTION, WITH EVERY ITEM SOLD. THE BLOCH'S ENTIRE COLLECTION IS BEING AUCTIONED OVER SEVERAL SALES AND THE FIRST, OF 140 BOTTLES, MADE £5.8 MILLION. THE PRE-SALE ESTIMATE WAS £1.8 MILLION. THE COUPLE PURCHASED THE FIRST OF THE DECORATIVE BOTTLES IN THE 1980s AND BY THE TIME GEORGE BLOCH DIED LAST YEAR THEY HAD AMASSED A COLLECTION OF OVER 1,700 BOTTLES. COLIN SHEAF, AN AUCTIONEER FROM BONHAMS WHO SOLD THE BOTTLES AT THE HONG KONG AUCTION, SAID THE SALE HAD SUCCEEDED IN BRINGING IN NEW CHINESE COLLECTORS. HE SAID: 'THIS IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND FINEST COLLECTION OF SNUFF BOTTLES AND WE AIM TO SELL IT OVER NUMEROUS SALES OVER FIVE YEARS. THE BLOCH'S STARTED BUYING AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW HOW MUCH THEY WOULD HAVE PAID FOR EACH OF THEM ORIGINALLY, BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY. THEY STARTED COLLECTING IN THE MID-1980s, BUYING FROM AUCTIONS AND DEALERS. THE LOVELY THING ABOUT COLLECTING THEN IS THAT THE WHOLE RANGE OF CRAFT INDUSTRIES ARE REPRESENTED. IT IS CERTAINLY THE MOST FORMIDABLE COLLECTION IN THE WORLD.' THE BOTTLES, WHICH RANGE BETWEEN ONE AND FOUR INCHES HIGH AND DATE MAINLY FROM THE 17th AND 18th CENTURIES, COME WITH SMALL IVORY SPOONS. THEY ARE HUGELY COLLECTIBLE BECAUSE CRAFTSMEN OF ALL TECHNIQUES TURNED THEIR HANDS TO MAKING THEM. JADE, GLASS, IVORY, LACQUER, BRONZE, PORCELAIN, SILVER AND STONE WERE ALL MATERIALS USED TO CREATE THE BOTTLES. IT WAS DURING THE EMPEROR QIANLLONG WHEN THE SNUFF BOTTLE PRODUCTION BOOMED. THERE WERE MASSES OF BAD QUALITY ONES MADE, BUT ALSO MANY OF THE FINEST CRAFTSMEN PRODUCED EXCEPTIONAL EXAMPLES. AND IT WAS THESE THAT THE BLOCHS COLLECTED. OTHER RECORD PRICES AT THE SALE INCLUDED AN INSCRIBED NEPHRITE JADE BOTTLE WHICH WENT FOR A WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR ANY JADE BOTTLE FOR OVER £500,000, AND AN IMPERIAL 'BIRD ON BRANCH' BOTTLE WENT FOR OVER £460,000, A WORLD RECORD FOR AN ENAMELED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE.