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Qualifiers

The visual characteristics we use to recognize promising bottles.

Shape

Start with the main body shape, then compare its shoulders, neck and other features.

RectangularSquareRound / ovalPear / teardropSpade / shieldCylindricalVase formsGourdConjoinedPolygonalNatural / sculptural forms

Rectangular

Broad body with substantially straight sides.

Rectangular with rounded shoulders outline

Rectangular with rounded shoulders

Bonhams 151 family. Seven confirmed matches across three auction houses; Christie’s 963 is a top match.

Variations: Bonhams 149; Freeman’s 108 with side handles.

Rectangular with sloping shoulders outline

Rectangular with sloping shoulders

Bonhams 145 and 164 · confirmed pair

Defined shoulder-to-neck transition and straighter body sides.

Rectangular with horizontal shoulders outline

Rectangular with horizontal shoulders

Bonhams 171 ↔ collection 1448 · best match

Collection 1239 and 405 show variations: rounded or sharp edges, bevels and handles can belong to the same family.

Square

A body roughly as wide as it is tall. Rounded corners, sharp corners and bevels are separate features.

Square — rounded corners outline

Square — rounded corners

Collection 1407 · 1479 with handles

Rounded corners and broad square bodies; handles are a variation.

Square outline

Square

Blue-and-white porcelain · eBay 188890473094

This author’s selected reference. Angled photograph; straight-on outline comparison pending.

Round / oval

A continuously curved body, circular or elongated.

Ovoid outline

Ovoid

Christie’s 961 · primary example

Etsy famille rose figures: variation with a flared, waisted neck.

True round outline

True round

Bonhams 133 · primary reference; Bonhams 159 · second reference

Compare the rounded body beneath the neck, independently of the carved decoration.

Round with narrowing base outline

Round with narrowing base

Bonhams 141 and 163 · confirmed pair

Fullness higher on the body and curved sides narrowing downward.

Pear / teardrop

A narrower upper body widening toward the lower body.

Flattened teardrop outline

Flattened teardrop

Bonhams 150 and 160 · confirmed pair

Broad lower body tapering upward. This author also confirmed 144 as a match; its photograph is not yet on this sheet.

Spade / shield

A broader upper body narrowing toward the base.

Spade-shaped outline

Spade-shaped

Bonhams 168 and 147 · collection 1191 and 1174

Taller, narrower and broader, rounded variations; both narrow toward the base.

Cylindrical

A tube-like body; a side view helps distinguish it from a flattened form.

Cylindrical outline

Cylindrical

1110 · primary reference

799: straight neck · 803: elongated neck. Neck and lip variations within the cylindrical family.

Vase forms

A distinct neck and shaped body, including forms such as meiping.

Meiping outline

Meiping

Collection 1175 and 947

Round in cross-section, with a short neck, high shoulders and tapering body; unlike flattened spade forms.

Gourd

Single-gourd and double-gourd silhouettes. Reference examples to be added.

Conjoined

Two or more bottle bodies joined into one object, retaining distinct necks and openings. The bodies may share a base; their individual profiles can vary. Conjoined describes construction and shape, not age, origin or quality. It is distinct from a double gourd, whose lobes are stacked on one axis.

Conjoined double form outline

Conjoined double form

This shape is usually found on cloisonné bottles and occasionally on porcelain bottles.

Two side-by-side bodies, each with its own neck, joined above an elongated central opening and at a shared foot.

Collection · Item 665 · Double Cloisonné Flowers

Compare outline with source photograph

Reference link

Polygonal

Multi-sided forms, including hexagonal and octagonal bottles. Reference photographs and outlines will be added here.

Natural / sculptural forms

Pebbles, animals, fruit and other sculptural or irregular forms. Reference examples to be added.

Undesirable shapes

Specific subshapes this author would avoid. These examples do not exclude every bottle with a similar general shape.

Broad lower body with sloping shoulders outline

Broad lower body with sloping shoulders

Undesirable subshape

Flared lip and narrow neck above long sloping shoulders; the sides widen into a broad, rounded lower body that curves inward to a small foot.

Usually found on cloisonné bottles.

Author-selected undesirable shape · eBay 307132492702

Check outline against photograph

Reference link
Flattened Bavarian pear form outline

Flattened Bavarian pear form

Undesirable subshape

Long, narrow, slightly flared neck flowing through sloping shoulders into a broad, flattened pear-shaped body, with a rounded lower edge and visible clear-glass layer at the base. Outline traced from this specific front-view photograph; the inner basal line shows the visible glass boundary, not measured wall thickness.

Selected as undesirable for this collection. The seller identifies this example as a Bavarian Forest snuff bottle, outside the Chinese/Japanese collecting scope, rather than a confirmed perfume bottle. This does not exclude all pear-shaped Chinese or Japanese bottles.

Reference: eBay 227542867764.

Tall tapered form outline

Tall tapered form

Undesirable subshape

Long, narrow upper body with sloping sides that widen toward the base.

Example · Item 178476906497

Squat rounded form outline

Squat rounded form

Undesirable subshape

Broad, squat body with rounded shoulders, a short neck and a narrow projecting foot.

Example · Item 198620471207

Broad shoulders, narrow base outline

Broad shoulders, narrow base

Undesirable subshape

Rounded upper body with curved sides narrowing into a rounded lower body and base, as shown in this specific example.

Example · Item 198620413987

Broad beveled glass form outline

Broad beveled glass form

Undesirable subshape

Broad shoulders, curved sides and a rounded lower body, with a substantial clear-glass border around the painted interior.

Example · Item 267779716253. The inner line follows the visible interior boundary; refraction and bevels affect its appearance, so the gap is not a measured wall thickness.

Color

Color reference guidelines
  1. Use clearly catalogued museum or auction examples to anchor historical palette names. Identify collection observations separately and leave uncertain classifications provisional.
  2. Record the ground separately from decoration. Yellow decoration alone does not establish famille jaune; yellow-ground famille rose also exists.
  3. Show representative shades where the photographs support them. Do not invent additional swatches to complete a palette; the current references are not exhaustive.
  4. Keep the source photograph and its catalogue link beside the swatches. Choose colors away from reflections, shadows and unrelated fittings.
  5. Label swatches as approximate colors from reference photographs. They are visual estimates, not measured enamel standards; a precise hexadecimal code does not imply precise historical color.
  6. Compare color relationships alongside material, technique and workmanship. Color matching alone does not establish date or authenticity.

For future photographs of collection objects, consistent lighting, a neutral background and a color reference target would improve comparability. Formal color measurement additionally requires a color-managed workflow.

FADGI imaging guidelines · Museum example of ground and enamel terminology

Current coverage: Famille Rose uses an auction photograph (Bonhams 31886, lot 138); Famille Verte, Blue and White and Sancai use collection photographs; Famille Jaune, Famille Noire and Wucai have museum anchors with identified grounds.

General palette references. Color guidance specific to a bottle type is kept on its study page under Studies (Identification tab).

Compare color with material, form and workmanship. A shared palette does not establish a shared date.

Bonhams · Sale 31886 · Lot 138Photograph from the linked source.

Famille Rose

An illustrative Famille Rose palette from the enameled carved-glass phoenix bottle, Bonhams sale 31886, lot 138. The painted decoration combines pinks, yellow, greens, turquoise and blue with dark outlines on a white ground.

  • Rose pink

    #C27B7E

  • Pale pink

    #DFA4AB

  • Yellow

    #CDB259

  • Deep green

    #377960

  • Leaf green

    #95B381

  • Turquoise green

    #61C0A3

  • Pale turquoise

    #98D4C1

  • Blue green

    #4A7D82

  • Blue

    #5F687F

  • Olive brown

    #665609

  • Dark outlines

    #2A2E31

  • White ground

    #F5F5F5

Colors sampled from the fixed reference photograph; these are photographic approximations, not calibrated enamel standards. The stopper and photographic background are excluded. White represents the bottle ground.

Collection · Item 774Photograph from the linked source.

Famille Verte

Collection item 774, Liu Hai and Toad, is the selected Famille Verte reference. Its decoration shows blue, red, green and yellow on a white ground. The blue on this bottle is identified by the collector as underglaze blue.

  • Blue

    #303971

  • Pale blue

    #9496AB

  • Red

    #883F36

  • Yellow

    #C4BE40

  • Turquoise green

    #67927A

  • Deep green

    #3F553E

  • Dark outlines

    #5A5A42

  • White ground

    #D7D7CF

Swatches are 5-by-5-pixel median samples from the reference photograph, excluding the stopper and background. They are photographic approximations, not calibrated enamel standards. Color alone does not determine whether decoration is underglaze or overglaze.

Museu Calouste Gulbenkian · garniture, inventory 534APhotograph: Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

Famille Jaune

Yellow ground, famille verte decoration. Look for the relationship between the yellow background and the green, aubergine and white decoration. The National Gallery of Art treats famille jaune as a subgroup of famille verte, usually with this more limited range of enamels applied to biscuit porcelain. Museum reference: Jingdezhen, Kangxi period (museum attribution late 17th–early 18th century); the museum identifies these as porcelain with yellow enamel and famille verte enamels on biscuit. This is a general ceramic palette reference, not a snuff-bottle dating reference.

  • Yellow ground

    #DED18B · Ground

  • Pale green / turquoise

    #8EBAA0

  • Leaf green

    #6D8950

  • Deep green

    #294E35

  • Aubergine / brown-purple

    #9A8079

  • Reserved white flowers

    #E5E2C9

  • Dark outlines

    #413B2D

Approximate colors from the reference photograph. Visual estimates, not calibrated measurements or a fixed recipe; lighting, wear and screens affect appearance.

Saint Louis Art Museum · 60:1962.1Photograph: Saint Louis Art Museum

Famille Noire

Black ground, famille verte decoration. The defining relationship is green-family enamel decoration against a glossy black background; the light leaves and blossoms stand out strongly from the ground. Museum reference: Jingdezhen porcelain with famille noire enamel decoration, dated by the museum to the late 19th–early 20th century (Guangxu period, 1875–1908); its Kangxi mark is described as apocryphal. This is a palette reference, not evidence for the age of a similar snuff bottle.

  • Black ground

    #101615 · Ground

  • Deep green

    #08714B

  • Pale leaf green

    #A0C39D

  • Turquoise green

    #77B8A6

  • Aubergine / muted purple

    #A28E94

  • Soft yellow

    #CEC398

  • Warm white

    #E3DFD0

Approximate colors from the front-view photograph; the grey photographic backdrop is excluded. Visual estimates, not calibrated measurements or a fixed recipe.

Collection · Item 1446

Photograph from the collection record.

Blue and White

Cobalt blue painted under a clear glaze on a white porcelain body. The single pigment gives a range of tones, from deep, nearly black-blue lines and dense areas to pale washes. Collection item 1446, a soft-paste blue and white bottle with Guanyin riding a qilin.

  • Deep cobalt

    #2B2E63

  • Mid blue

    #586299

  • Pale blue wash

    #7882AA

  • White ground

    #CACBCD · Ground

Approximate colors from the reference photograph of the body; the coral stopper and backdrop are excluded. Photographic estimates, not calibrated cobalt standards.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 1991.253.55Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (public domain)

Wucai

“Five-color” porcelain: underglaze cobalt blue combined with overglaze enamels, chiefly iron red, green and yellow, on a white ground. Museum reference: The Met describes this barrel-shaped jar as porcelain painted in underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome enamels, with a Wanli mark and of the period (1573–1620). This is a palette reference, not evidence for the age of a similar snuff bottle.

  • Underglaze blue

    #263680

  • Deep blue

    #0E1852

  • Iron red

    #7D393C

  • Green

    #64756D

  • Yellow

    #A5835D

  • White ground

    #CBC8D0 · Ground

Approximate colors from the museum photograph; the backdrop is excluded. Photographic estimates, not calibrated enamel standards.

Collection · Item 530

Photograph from the collection record.

Sancai

“Three-color” lead glazes associated with the Tang dynasty: amber, green and cream glazes applied over a light earthenware body, allowed to run and pool together. Collection item 530, a sancai tripod censer.

  • Amber

    #C8A94A

  • Brown amber

    #9A762B

  • Green

    #6F8656

  • Deep green

    #53643E

  • Pale green

    #94A06E

  • Cream

    #E8E2BC · Ground

Approximate colors from the reference photograph; the backdrop and shadows are excluded. Photographic estimates, not calibrated glaze standards.

Terminology: the National Gallery of Art decorative arts catalogue treats jaune and noire as subcategories of famille verte. Ground color and enamel palette should be recorded separately.