ZHITING SCHOOL, SUZHOU, 1760-1850

Details

A FINELY CARVED CAMEO AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
ZHITING SCHOOL, SUZHOU, 1760-1850
The ovoid bottle is cleverly carved utilizing the darker brown markings with a scholar, woodcutter, fisherman and farmer (the Four Noble Professions) in a continuous mountainous landscape.
1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) high, jadeite stopper

Provenance

Collection of Eric Young (Part I); Sotheby's London, 3 March 1987, lot 91.

Literature

Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Baltimore, Winter 1997, front cover.

Special notice

Items which contain rubies or jadeite originating in Burma (Myanmar) may not be imported into the U.S. As a convenience to our bidders, we have marked these lots with Y. Please be advised that a purchaser¹s inability to import any such item into the U.S. or any other country shall not constitute grounds for non-payment or cancellation of the sale. With respect to items that contain any other types of gemstones originating in Burma (e.g., sapphires), such items may be imported into the U.S., provided that the gemstones have been mounted or incorporated into jewellery outside of Burma and provided that the setting is not of a temporary nature (e.g., a string).

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Lot Essay

The carving of this unusually small bottle exhibits imaginative use of the patches of color and translucent tones of brown to depict the popular subject 'Four Noble Professions'. On many Suzhou bottles this subject is represented by just two of the professions; this unusual example, however, includes all four.
Another carved agate bottle of similar shape and size from the Blanche B. Exstein Collection, was sold in these rooms, 21 March 2002, lot 188. For a series of related Zhiting School Suzhou agate bottles, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 2, Part 2, Quartz, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 504-547, no. 366-79.
For a discussion on the Zhiting School in Suzhou, see the note to lot 1077.

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