YANGZHOU, 1840-1880

Details

A RARE RED AND BLACK-OVERLAY OPAQUE WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
YANGZHOU, 1840-1880
Of flattened rounded shape, the bottle is carved on one side with boys on buffalos wading through finely carved waves with three bats flying above. The reverse is decorated with two fishermen hauling their nets in a boat below a crane in flight. There is a carved seal reading bing wu, possibly corresponding to 1846, between the two scenes toward the base, and Qianlong three-character seal mark opposite.
2 1⁄4 in. (5.2 cm.) high, coral stopper

Provenance

Hugh Moss.
Bob C. Stevens Collection, no. 1006.
The Bob C. Stevens Collection of Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part III; Sotheby’s New York, 25 June 1982, lot 10.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.

Literature

H. Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles Number Four, London, 1966, p. 41, pl. P.
B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 1006.
JICSBS, Summer 1993, p.6, fig.13.
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 222-223, no. 95.

Exhibited

Tokyo, Mikimoto Hall, An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles From The Bob C. Stevens Collection, 22-31 October 1978, cat. no. 59.

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.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The subject matter of this bottle, with buffalo, cranes and fishermen, is discussed by Rachelle R. Holden in her book Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, p. 223, where she makes note of the Buddhist undertones in the imagery. The figures are wading through water, harkening to the sea of pain navigated by Buddha to reach nirvana.

Two similar bottles of nearly identical subject, one white glass and one of caramel-beige tone in the Collection of Hedda and Lutz Franz, are illustrated by H. Franz in Franzart, Chinese Art from the Hedda and Lutz Franz Collection, Hong Kong, 2011, pp. 136-137 and 204, nos. 1386 and 1551.

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