Page 38 - Bonhams Chinese Scholar's Art March 2014

8066

Property of Another Owner

8066
A reticulated soapstone snuff Bottle
1750-1850
Of flattened gourd form resting on an oval flat base, with a concave lip
incised with two characters, the body intricately carved in openwork on
each side with two panels forming a double gourd shape to reveal the
inner bottle, the neck flanked by two dragon heads in high relief, the
interior of the neck threaded, with the scrolling bodies extending down
the narrow sides, the bottle extensively and meticulously incised and
gilded with stylised waves, the stone of a pale green tone with russet-red
inclusions, with a shagreen fitted case. 1 3/4in (4.6cm) high
$7,000 - 9,000

See a related example of a carnelian snuff bottle with similar pierced
openwork illustrated by White, Snuff Bottles from China: The Victoria
and Albert Museum Collection, London, 1992, p.66, pl.26. Another in
soapstone, also with the double dragon motif is illustrated in Low Chinese
Snuff Bottles from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect III, Hong Kong,
2007 pl. 265.

Two other similar reticulated bottles have been offered in recent years,
each with a threaded inner neck and numbered lip, See Sotheby’s
New York, September 14th, 2010 lot 54, as part of the Joe Grimberg
collection, and Bonhams London, May 16, 2013, lot 216.

36 | Bonhams