1740-1840

Details

**A FINELY CARVED AGATE "INTERTWINED FISH" SNUFF BOTTLE
1740-1840
Carved from translucent grey, beige, reddish and dark brown agate with some whitish crystalline areas, the well-hollowed bottle of slightly compressed spherical form with a cylindrical neck, concave lip and naturalistic foot made from elements of the design, carved with a continuous design of six carp and a shell, bronze stopper cast as formalized lotus petals with integral collar and coral finial
1 15/16 in. (4.9 cm.) high

Provenance

Mrs. Roy E. Tomlinson, Montclair, New Jersey
The Montclair Art Museum, 1966 (accession no. 66.104.6)
Sotheby's, New York, 23 September 1995, lot 161
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd.

Literature

Schuyler V. R. Cammann, Miniature Art from Old China. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Montclair Art Museum Collections, 1982, no. 253

Exhibited

Christie's, Los Angeles, 2003

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

This bottle belongs to a range of bottles, mostly in agate or jade, which are all inspired by the same idea of intertwined fish, using the natural markings in the material to considerable and inventive advantage. The group is discussed by Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no. 158, and again by H. Moss in Chinese Snuff Bottles of the Silica or Quartz Group, nos. 214 and 215. Many seem to be from the same lapidary workshop.
This is an unusual version in the number of fish depicted, the inclusion of the shell, and the color of the material, which is usually reserved for either plain bottles, or those used by the Official School with cameo or silhouette designs.

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