Page 76 - CHRISTIE'S Barron Collection Snuff Bottles 09/13/17

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A CARVED CORAL SNUFF BOTTLE
POSSIBLY IMPERIAL, 1760-1840
The bottle is carved and undercut with a continuous scene
of fowering branches, a butterfy, three bats and the Three
Abundances: pomegranate, peaches and Buddha’s Hand citron.
The coral is of even pale pink-orange tone.
2¡ in. (6 cm.) high, sapphire stopper
$15,000-20,000

PROVENANCE

Asiantiques, Winter Park, Florida, 2001.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts,
no. 3227.

EXHIBITED

Boston, International Chinese Snuf Bottle Society Convention,
The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.
The meaning of the Three Abundances is explained by Terese
Tse Bartholomew in In Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, Hong
Kong, 2006, p. 31, stating that the Three Abundances (sanduo)
combined with a bat (fu) means ‘May you be blessed with The
Three Abundances (fushou sandou). The Buddha’s Hand citron,
peach, and pomegranate together form the motif of the Three
Abundances: blessings, long life, and many sons. The word for
“Buddha’s Hand citron” (foshou) is homophonous with “blessings”
(fu) and ‘longevity” (shou) combined. The peach symbolizes
longevity, while the pomegranate, with its many seeds, represents
many sons. The presence of the bat adds more blessings.
1760-1840年 珊瑚雕三多圖鼻煙壺

(another view)

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