Page 86 - CHRISTIE'S Barron Collection Snuff Bottles 09/13/17

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A WELL-CARVED RUSSET, BROWN AND WHITE JADE
SNUFF BOTTLE
MASTER OF THE ROCKS SCHOOL, 1740-1840
The bottle is carved utilizing the natural vertical striations of the
stone to depict two powerful chi-dragons on either side looking
towards the mouth rim. Two smaller dragons are carved through
russet patches of stone on the narrow sides.
2¡ in. (6 cm.) high, jadeite stopper
$16,000-22,000

PROVENANCE

Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong, 2006.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts,
no. 2938.

EXHIBITED

Boston, International Chinese Snuf Bottle Society Convention,
The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.
The Master of the Rocks School seems to have specialized in
carvings from this distinctive material. The School’s main output
was bottles carved with landscape designs, but many other
subjects are recorded, including a few with chi dragon designs
which may have been partly produced for the Court. The quality of
carving and the use of material of the present bottle are typical of
this School.
For other examples of snuf bottles from the Master of the Rocks
School, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuf
Bottles, Vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1995, nos. 136-141.
1740-1840年 玉雕蟠螭紋鼻煙壺

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