.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This handsome bottle relates to a group of chalcedony bottles classified by Hugh Moss as Group B (see H. Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles of the Silica or Quartz Group and Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 2, Quartz, no. 326, where a small sub-group of spectacularly well-carved agate bottles is identified and the name "The Stevens Deer Master" is coined for the carver). This bottle is one of the most impressive examples known, displaying inspired use of the stone's markings and impeccable carving and polishing.
A related cameo agate bottle of similar coloring, but carved with mythical felines (xiezhai) playing with brocade balls, is illustrated in Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, p.231, no. 320. Another agate bottle attributed to the Stevens Deer Master, carved with a Buddhist lion with a brocade ball beneath a bird perched in a prunus branch, is illustrated by D. Low, More Treasures from The Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, p. 244, no. 227. Three other bottles attributed to his hand in the collection of Mary and George Bloch and are illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 1, Quartz, pp. 392-99, nos. 326-28, the last of which is carved from green moss agate with a relief design carved from a layer of beige crystal.
A related cameo agate bottle of similar coloring, but carved with mythical felines (xiezhai) playing with brocade balls, is illustrated in Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, p.231, no. 320. Another agate bottle attributed to the Stevens Deer Master, carved with a Buddhist lion with a brocade ball beneath a bird perched in a prunus branch, is illustrated by D. Low, More Treasures from The Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, p. 244, no. 227. Three other bottles attributed to his hand in the collection of Mary and George Bloch and are illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 1, Quartz, pp. 392-99, nos. 326-28, the last of which is carved from green moss agate with a relief design carved from a layer of beige crystal.