Page 51 - Bonhams Dicker Collection Snuff Bottles March 2015

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An amethyst ‘landscape’ snuff bottle A rock crystal snuff bottle
Rustic Crystal Master School, 1750-1860 1750-1860
The rounded rectangular bottle standing on an oval foot ring, rising to a Carefully hollowed with walls of even thickness, the bottle of tapering
straight cylindrical neck beneath a very subtly concave lip, carved in low form with a cylindrical neck, flat lip, its shoulders sloping outward
relief with a continuous scene depicting an expand of lake surrounded towards the recessed base, crisply carved with two faux lion mask-
by tree-accented rocky banks under a group of swallows flying high in and-ring handles, executed from a nearly flawless transparent stone.
the sky; the natural cloudy inclusions in the stone well incorporated into 2 1/4in (5.7cm) high
the landscape design, creating an atmospheric misty appearance. $1,500 - 2,000
2 7/16in (6.3cm) high
$2,000 - 3,000 Provenance
Asiantiques, February, 2012
Provenance
Asiantiques, August 1996 水晶鋪首啣環鼻煙壺
Hugh Moss

The attribution of a group of crystal and quartzite bottles to the ‘Rustic
Crystal Master’ refers to a yet unplaced school of hardstone carving
active in China between circa 1730-1880. The instantly recognizable
decorative style bears relation to literati landscape painting, with
the vast majority worked in low relief. One other feature is the clever
use of the natural flaws in the stone, and the ability of masterfully
incorporating them into the design. For a discussion of the distinctive
decorative styles of the school see A Treasury of Chinese Snuff
Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Moss, Graham, and
Tsang, Hong Kong, 1998, Vol.2, no.255.

紫晶燕掠秋湖鼻煙壺

Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Barbara and Marvin Dicker | 49