Page 16 - Bonhams Chinese Scholar's Art March 2014

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14 | Bonhams A white nephrite snuff bottle
1750-1800
Of near rectangular form, tapering towards the foot, with a concave lip
and neat, rectangular foot rim surrounding a felt foot, each of the four
sides with a raised panel, with fixed-ring mask handles on the sides.
2 1/4in (5.6cm) high
$2,500 - 4,000

8014
A carved coconut shell snuff bottle
1780-1880
The body of compressed circular form with a flat everted lip, one face
deeply carved in intaglio with a spray of bamboo, reversed by a four-
character inscription reading “Yuanbian Zhencang” the shell with a rich
dark brown colour with natural beige inclusions.
2in (5cm) high
$1,500 - 2,500

Yuanbian Zhencang (The Treasured Collection of Yuanbian) is a likely
reference to the storied Ming dynasty painting and calligraphy collector
Xiang Yuanbian (1525-1590). Unusual among his peers, Xiang Yuanbian
was a wealthy merchant, rather than a landholder or scholar/official.
Despite his social status, Xiang Yuanbian was able to train his keen eye
for connoisseurship to acquire some of the most treasured examples of
painting and calligraphy in the history of the genre.

8015
A green nephrite snuff bottle
Likely Palace Workshops, Beijing 1760-1800
Of flattened spade shape, with a flat, everted lip, and a concave oval foot,
one face incised with a blossoming branch highlighted by gilding, reversed
by an intaglio inscription in clerical script titled Yuzhi Xinglun Shi (Imperial
Produced Poem of the Apricot Tree) the characters with traces of gilding.
2 1/2in (6.3cm) high
$7,000 - 9,000