Page 11 - Bonhams Dicker Collection Snuff Bottles March 2015

with the miniature antique Chinese bottles she noticed at the
sales previews. They seemed to her to be the perfect item
to collect, particularly in a New York apartment where size is
always an issue. In the early ‘80’s books about Chinese snuff
bottles were few and far between, and like many collectors,
Barbara and Marvin chanced upon Lilla Perry’s book, Chinese
Snuff Bottles, The Adventures and Studies of a Collector,
published by Tuttle in 1960 and reprinted a number of times.
Captivated by the bottles shown within its pages, they started
to look for snuff bottles in the City. It was not long before the
collection of Janos and Erna Szekeres of Connecticut came
on the block in a two-part auction in 1986 and again in 1987.
Although Barbara was not able to attend the first auction,
Marvin was able to go, and purchase three bottles, all of which
remain part of their collection. Realizing early the importance
of provenance, Barbara and Marvin continued to buy at the
major auction houses. In the second part of the sale of the
Szekeres Collection, they purchased two bottles from their
favorite group of jades, which are in this sale. Lot 1095 is a
very well-hollowed translucent white nephrite snuff bottle with
its surfaces left undecorated to allow its tactile quality to be
appreciated. Lot 1092 is a russet and yellow jade snuff bottle,
cleverly utilizing the skin of the jade, carved with a landscape
in which a scholar leans against the trunk of a gnarled pine
tree, his attendant at his side.
Collecting snuff bottles is not just about the object, as it can,
if the collector wishes, involve him or her in a life of great
camaraderie, shared interests and enduring friendships. Barbara
and Marvin have been members of the International Chinese
Snuff Bottle Society since 1986. At that very first auction, Marvin at home in New York and subsequently Florida, where it
was approached by a fellow collector, and now long-time
friend, Bud Exstein as he was waiting to collect his first three
snuff bottles. Bud Exstein asked if Marvin was a new collector
and then told him about the Society. Bud also invited Barbara
and Marvin to attend a meeting of the Metropolitan Society
(a local branch of the ICSBS), starting a thirty-year adventure
in the collecting world of snuff bottles. Barbara became great
friends with Bud’s wife, Babs Exstein, and when her collection
was sold at auction in 2002, they purchased a number of the
Exstein bottles. Lot 1072, is a charming and well-carved coral
snuff bottle, carved on both sides with two Daoist Immortals, Li
Tieguai and He Xianggu beside a pine and plantain tree, from
the Exstein collection, having been acquired by the Exstein’s in
the early 20th century from Hilda Somers.
Both Barbara and Marvin have been active in the International
Chinese Snuff Bottle Society throughout the last thirty years,
both serving as directors of the Board at different periods
of time. They have attended every convention, but four,
worldwide, since 1987, including two in Palm Beach, Fl.,
which they co-chaired, hosting a fine lunch at the Country
Club there in 1997. Many of the bottles in this auction were
selected to be exhibited at the Norton Museum of Art in West
Palm Beach during the convention in 1997, such as lot 1014,
a finely carved agate snuff bottle depicting two monkeys sitting
on a rock, one holding a peach and lot 1028, a magnificent
blue enameled and slip decorated Yixing snuff bottle
decorated with the familiar theme of a pair of doves and a pair
of Pekinese dogs, symbolizing conjugal bliss. Barbara was a
docent at the museum for fifteen years, specializing in tours of
the Chinese art on view.
Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Barbara and Marvin Dicker | 9
Barbara and Marvin’s first convention was in London in
1987, where they met the dealers that would have such
an influence on their collecting lives including Clare Chu,
Robert Hall and the late Robert Kleiner. Barbara and Marvin
have always enjoyed the thrill of buying at the major auction
houses in Hong Kong, London and New York, and their first
convention gave them a taste for this as Edmund Dwyer’s
collection was for sale in London at that time. Lot 1008 is a
finely molded and enameled porcelain bottle from the Dwyer
Collection, decorated with a five-clawed dragon in pursuit
of a flaming pearl with a Daoguang mark on the base and
of the period (1821-1850). Many members of the ICSBS
became close friends with Barbara and Marvin during
conventions, and they have always enjoyed adding friends’
bottles to the collection when they became available. One
of their favorites is lot 1018, a superb and unusually colored
carved agate snuff bottle decorated with two seated
scholars playing weiqi which came from fellow New Yorkers
Fran and Bernie Wald, whom they spent many summers
vacationing with in Cape Cod, MA during the Asian sales
held there every August. The summer they purchased this
bottle will never be forgotten by 25 snuff bottle collectors,
including Barbara and Marvin, as it was the year that
Hurricane Bob hit the Cape with 150 mph winds. Unable to
evacuate, the collectors were holed up at the Skaket Beach
Hotel for three days without power, living on canned tuna
and champagne! Snuff bottles were the common interest of
the group, a favored topic of conversation during the storm!
Barbara and Marvin always enjoyed displaying their collection
could be viewed by visiting collectors. They added bottles
that were intriguing and irresistible, such as lot 1029, a
rare and highly unusual Duanstone bottle in three colors
of ochre, olive green and purplish-brown, carved with a
figure in a landscape on one side and on the other a crane
with outstretched wings beside a recumbent deer from the
White Wings Collection, and illustrated in the accompanying
catalogue of that collection. Always aware of the importance
of provenance, they kept meticulous records of their
purchases that not only help to establish attributions, but
also builds up a picture of their collecting life as bottles pass
from one collector to another.
As the years pass, and Barbara and Marvin are about to
move to a smaller house, they feel the time has come to
share their collection with other enthusiastic collectors who
will enjoy their bottles as much as they have. They will not
be parting with one favorite bottle, which has been part of
their collection for over twenty-five years. Given to them one
New Years Day by Fran and Bernie Wald, it is a cinnabar-
red overlay on a brown ground, decorated with five bats
around a shou medallion, fashioned entirely from chocolate!
Needless to say it has not been on display, but lives in their
freezer and will be moving with them!
Bonhams are honored to be part of this process, and to
work with collectors such as Barbara and Marvin Dicker.
It is our hope that these bottles will find similar homes
amongst equally passionate collectors around the world,
where they can be similarly displayed and appreciated by
those around them.