Lot 174
CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE 'LEGEND OF WHITE SNAKE' SNUFF BOTTLE
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG MARK, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Auction: 07 November 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
清 乾隆款 粉彩白蛇傳鼻煙壺
of flattened circular form, the sides finely painted with a continuous scene of monk Fahai with a tiger, performing sorcery by blowing winds and flaming fire to subdue the human-formed female snake Bai Suzhen and her companion Xiaoqing, whilst Bai half emerged from the river, and her mortal husband Xu Xian in the flee behind, the battle further attended with other half-human demons, including one in flight with scorpion-like body, and another toad demon wearing human costume, the base inscribed with a four-character Qianlong mark in iron-red, with stopper
Dimensions
height: 6.6cm; 7.6cm with stopper
Footnote
A comparable famille rose snuff bottle depicting the Legend of White Snake, also dated to the Qing dynasty, is in the collection of the National History Museum, Taiwan, museum no. 72-00259.