Page 182 - March 22 2022 Bonhams

(two views)

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
226 Provenance
A FINE SUZHOU AGATE BOTTLE Robert Kleiner, London, 1990’s
School of Zhiting, 1750-1850
Of flattened ovoid shape, carved in high relief in a continuous 出處：
scene with the robed scholar, possibly Mi Fu, on one side holding 倫敦 Robert Kleiner，1990 年代
a calligraphy brush behind his back, standing before a rock face
and and looking up at three bats amidst clouds above, a pine and The figure holding a brush behind his back may well depict the
serrated rockwork to one edge and further rockwork, lingzhi and Northern Song Dynasty poet Mi Fu (1050-1107) or Mi Fei, as he
a stream, the reverse side centered by a descending long-tailed is sometimes known. who was a famous calligrapher and painter
phoenix with out-stretched wings amidst clouds, rockwork and pine, noted for his love of strangely shaped stones and rocks. He was
the design cleverly integrating the smaller darker flecks and larger considered one of the four great ‘Song Masters’ and a hugely
pale russet inclusions within the semi-transparent grey stone to great influential figure in the literati world. However, it may also be an
effect to highlight the details, with slightly concave oval base. illustration of a standard literary pursuit in a country where scholars
2 1/16in (5.2cm) high, stopper, box were prone to leaving graffiti on natural rock formations.

$10,000 - 12,000 For a series of related Zhiting School Suzhou agate bottles, see
Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary
大約 1750-1850 蘇州芝亭流派 瑪瑙巧彫米芾鼻烟壺 and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 2, Part 2, Quartz, Hong Kong,
1998, pp. 504-547, no. 366-79; and also R. Kleiner, Treasures from
the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, Singapore, 1999, nos. 190-3.,
for a group of small agate bottles from the collection of Denis Low.

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