Christie's To Offer Part II of the Meriem Collection - A Superb Ensemble of Chinese Snuff Bottles Christie’s will offer Part II of this well-known and exceptionally fine collection - The Meriem Collection. The sale will take place on March 19
News-Antique.com - Jan 15,2008 - New York – After the spectacular results of the sale of the first part of the Meriem Collection in
September 2007, which realized $3,988,050, Christie’s will offer Part II of this well-known and
exceptionally fine collection. The sale will take place on March 19, will consist of 114 lots and has
an overall estimate of $2.3 to 3.1 million.
Among the highlights is an Imperial Beijing enamel 'European Subject' snuff bottle, Palace
Workshops, Beijing, Qianlong four-character mark in blue enamel and of the period, 1736-1750
(estimate: $250,000-300,000). This exceptional bottle ranks among the finest Imperial painted
enamel bottles, a group in which superlative examples are standard. Without question one of the
masterpieces of Chinese enameling, the present bottle exemplifies the softness and subtlety that the
highly skilled enamellers at the Palace Workshops were able to achieve and is one of only two
known examples of this faceted form. Another gem is an exquisite Imperial enamelled glass snuff
bottle, Palace Workshops, Beijing, Qianlong four-character mark in blue enamel and of the
period,1750-1770, (estimate: $150,000-200,000). The delicacy in the use of the enamels on glass is a
key feature of Palace enameling, allowing for considerable subtlety of expression. Also being offered
is an inside-painted crystal snuff bottle, by renowned artist Ma Shaoxuan, Beijing, circa 1900-1920,
the bottle 1760-1920 (estimate: $120,000-140,000), bearing a portrait of Zhang Qian (1853-1926), a
former associate of Yuan Shikai's; an Imperial emerald-green and lavender jadeite snuff bottle,
Imperial, Palace Workshops, Beijing, 1760-1820 (estimate: $80,000-120,000), which is highly prized
as it combines two of the most sought-after colors in a single specimen, while its spectacular carving
of one of the most popular courtly subjects, would suggest that it would have been made for
Imperial use; and an enamelled porcelain snuff bottle, Imperial, Jingde Zhen kilns, Qianlong fourcharacter
seal mark in iron-red and of the period, 1736-1795 (estimate: $80,000-120,000), a rare early
example of the later Jiaqing-marked examples of enamelled porcelain snuff bottles.
Mary Margaret Young was the daughter of Earl B. Finning, the founder of Finning Tractor
Equipment Co. Ltd and was educated at Pomona College and the University of British Columbia
where she studied philosophy. With her husband Maury, she embarked on a collecting journey that
would last a lifetime, culminating in collections of 20th century Canadian paintings and Chinese snuff
bottles, both ranking amongst the world’s finest. Mary’s initial contact with the wondrous world of
snuff bottles came through forays into local galleries as well as the seminal book Chinese Snuff Bottles
– The Adventures and Studies of a Collector by Lilla S. Perry. Over the years, she built a superb collection
and with it a strong and admiring circle of fellow collectors, for Mary never turned down a request
to see the collection or lend it to exhibitions. She had a passion for education and the
learning/teaching aspect resulting from the many exchanges with other individuals in the field
satisfied this passion from different perspectives. Throughout her collecting career, she kept
extensive notes and records which
