Page 105 - CHRISTIE'S Barron Collection Snuff Bottles 09/13/17

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A BLACK AND GREY JADE SNUFF BOTTLE
MASTER OF THE ROCKS SCHOOL, 1750-1850
The front of the bottle is carved through a black colored ‘skin’ to
the grey ground with two playful Buddhist lions. The narrow sides
are carved with mask-and-ring handles and an inscription on the
reverse reads ji xiang ru yi (‘May you have auspiciousness and your
wishes fulflled’).

2¡ in. (6 cm.) high, jadeite stopper

$3,000-5,000

PROVENANCE

Jana Volf, 2008.
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong, 2008.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts,
no. 4744.

EXHIBITED

Boston, International Chinese Snuf Bottle Society Convention,
The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.

As noted in the discussion to lot 423, the Master of the Rocks
school seems to have specialized in jade bottles carved with
landscapes. However, there is a small group within the school,
carved with imperial themes such as chi dragons and, as seen
here, Buddhist lions and mask-and-ring handles, that suggest
a Court connection.

For a related a grey nephrite bottle in the Bloch collection
and a discussion of this small group see Moss, Graham, Tsang,
A Treasury of Chinese Snuf Bottles, the Mary and George Bloch
Collection, Vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 340-42.
1750-1850年 灰玉巧雕雙獅圖鼻煙壺

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