YANGZHOU, 1800-1890

Details

A VERY RARE GREEN, PINK AND YELLOW-OVERLAY WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
YANGZHOU, 1800-1890
The bottle is boldly carved through the overlays with a continuous river scene including a solitary figure maneuvering a sampan on one side and a farmer carrying a hoe across a bridge on the reverse, all amidst billowing clouds and trees, with a small house and a pavilion nestled within the scene.
2 5⁄8 in. (6.7 cm.) high, stone stopper

Provenance

Bob C. Stevens Collection, no. 221.
Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens, Part I; Sotheby’s Honolulu, 7 November 1981, lot 13.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.

Literature

H. Moss, Snuff Bottles of China, London, 1971, no. 233.
B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 221.
JICSBS, Summer 1993, pp. 6-7, fig. 9, 16.
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 288-289, no. 126.

Exhibited

Tokyo, Mikimoto Hall, An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles From The Bob C. Stevens Collection, 22-31 October 1978, cat. no. 60.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Margaret Gristina (葛曼琪) Senior Specialist, VP

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Triple overlay glass snuff bottles such as the current example are considerably rare. Clare Chu opined on the rarity of this group in “An Analysis of the Seal School Group of Glass Snuff Bottles’, JICSBS, Summer, 1993, pp. 5-14, no. 42 and 45, where she states that there are approximately twenty examples of this group of multiple layers bottles in the public realm.

A bottle with a similar color combination from the Joe Grimberg Collection was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 14 September 2010, lot 106, where a direct comparison to the present bottle was made. It seems likely that the two are from the same workshop. Another triple overlay bottle from the Hedda and Lutz Franz Collection is illustrated in Chinese Art from the Hedda and Lutz Franz Collection, Hong Kong, 2011, p. 117, no. 1324.

More from Rivers and Mountains Far from the World: Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Rachelle R. Holden Collection

View All