Page 78 - March 15 2017 The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection

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A CARVED GREENISH-YELLOW JADE SNUFF BOTTLE
MASTER OF THE ROCKS SCHOOL, 1740-1860
The bottle is carved on one side through the opaque buf and russet ‘skin’ with the immortal
Ma Gu steering a pine tree boat containing a crane, a basket of peaches, and hung with
a double gourd. The reverse is undecorated except for a small carving of rocks through a
brown patch in the stone above the foot. The narrow sides have mask-and-ring handles.
2Ω in. (6.3 cm.) high, shell stopper
$5,000-7,000

PROVENANCE

Robert Kleiner, London, 2004.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 3959.
1740-1860年 玉雕麻姑獻壽圖鼻煙壺

The Master of the Rocks School appears to have specialized in jade carvings from this
distinctive material. The School’s main output was bottles carved with landscape designs,
but many other subjects are recorded. For a discussion of the Master of the Rocks School
of carving, see H. Moss, V. Graham, K.B. Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuf Bottles: The
Mary and George Bloch Collection, Hong Kong, 1995, Vol. 1, pp. 340-73, nos. 133-143.

76 THE RUTH AND CARL BARRON COLLECTION OF FINE CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES: PART IV