Snuff Bottle: Antique Twin Double Gourd Cloisonne Snuff Bottle

The double gourd form is a favorite among the Chinese on account of its symbolism.  It is often associated with wish granting and magic.  The Daoist Immortal Zhang Guolao is often featured with a double gourd riding on a white donkey.  Anytime he needed his ride, all he had to do was to shake his gourd and his donkey would appear.  This twin double gourd snuff bottle here shows it probably has twice the power.   The bottle is cloisonne on copper. The application of this technique is expertly done. The background color is imperial yellow on which paintings of red crested cranes appear on the cartouches on the upper and lower sections of the gourd.  A different pose of the bird is featured on all eight of the cartouches. One image is the crane in flight, or standing, or feeding.  The application of the wires is so skillful that the images appear to be hand painted. and not executed by bending tiny copper wires and filling in the spaces with powdered color glass. The fine technique exhibi