Page 118 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

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AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL ‘FIGURAL’ 丁酉 (1897年) 馬少宣作水晶內畫詩文人物 AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS ‘BUTTERFLIES’ 戊午年 (1978年) 劉守本作玻璃內畫白蝶圖
SNUFF BOTTLE BY MA SHAOXUAN, DATED 圖鼻煙壺 《馬少宣》款 「少宣」印 SNUFF BOTTLE, BY LIU SHOUBEN, DATED 鼻煙壺
DINGYOU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1897 WUWU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1978
題識：
A dedication is inscribed on the bottle’s reverse and signed 出版： Height 3 in., 7.6 cm 歡天喜地
with the seals xuan, yin, and shaoxuan. The inscription reads: 許建勳，《An Addicted Dedication: Chinese Snuff 祖謙仁兄雅玩
‘For the assessment of honourable and benevolent brother LITERATURE
Gui Heng’, stopper (2) bottles Christopher Sin’s Collection》，卷二，香 Humphrey Hui, An Addicted Dedication: Chinese Snuff bottles
Height 2⅛ in., 5.5 cm 港，2013年，圖版29 Christopher Sin’s Collection, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2013, pl. 128. 出版：
許建勳，《An Addicted Dedication: Chinese Snuff
LITERATURE A kaleidoscope of butterflies in flight above flowering bottles Christopher Sin’s Collection》，卷二，香
vegetation graces the present snuff bottle. The butterflies
Humphrey Hui, An Addicted Dedication: Chinese Snuff bottles 港，2013年，圖版128
Christopher Sin’s Collection, vol. II, Hong Kong, 2013, pl. 29. hover below an inscription that reads ‘For the amusement
of honourable brother Zu Qian’. Zu Qian is Christopher
Painted by artist Ma Shaoxuan and titled Xijian tu, or Sin’s Chinese name. This butterfly motif is titled Huan tian
‘shoulder resting’, the present rock crystal bottle features xi di and has the auspicious connotations of enjoying a
a flower vendor taking a break from carefully balancing happy day.
baskets of flowers on either end of a long carrying pole. The
flower vendor is a popular subject of the artist, who sought ⊖ $ 3,000-5,000
to depict scenes of daily life. Behind the figure, a fourteen-
character couplet draws on the beauty of flowers and the
joy of springtime. See a snuff bottle of this type from the Dr.
Wou Kiuan Collection sold in our London rooms, 17th May
2023, lot 106.
⊖ $ 4,000-6,000

232 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11410 SNUFF BOTTLES FROM THE CHRISTOPHER SIN COLLECTION 233