Page 52 - Bonhams Dicker Collection Snuff Bottles March 2015

1068 1068
A lacquer on wood ‘monkey’ snuff bottle
1069 Fuzhou, probably Imperial, 1750-1850
Carved in the form of a squatting monkey, its left hand resting on the
50 | BONHAMS crossing feet, while its right hand raised to stabilize a large peach
supported on its back, the top of the peach opened to form the mouth
of the bottle, the surfaces painted mostly black over red, rubbed
through in the peach areas, the monkey’s face in gilt and red, the
sides embellished with an incised fruiting peach tree washed in gilt.
2 5/8in (6.6cm) high
$6,000 - 8,000

Provenance
The Asian Art Studio, Inc.

Lacquerware flourished in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, during
the mid to late-Qing period. It is characterized by its light weight and
extensive use of monochrome colors. Fuzhou lacquer is a painted
rather than carved lacquer as seen with cinnabar lacquer. There exist
two concepts in regard to the core material that the Fuhou lacquer
snuff bottles were built up on. Many contemporary literatures argue
that given the lightness of the material Fuzhou lacquer was mostly built
up on a silk, or other textile ground. Although this may be the case in
some wares, the present example appears to be executed on balsa-
wood, a very light wood, based upon how the material cracks to the
interior of its mouth.

Some Fuzhou snuff bottles are known bearing credible late-Qianlong
reign marks, suggesting possible production for the Court in the last
part of the reign: either that a blank body was sent to Beijing to be
decorated, or it was entirely decorated in Fuzhou as a response to
an Imperial order. For further discussions and examples of the unique
group of snuff bottles, refer to Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection
of Mary and George Bloch, Robert Kleiner, British Museum Press,
1995, pp. 491-495, no. 322-325. Compare also another very
similarly designed Fuzhou lacquer snuff bottle, from the Mary and
George Bloch Collection, sold in our rooms, Hong Kong, 28 May
2010, sale 18456, lot 105.

福州漆面壽猴鼻煙壺

1069
A carved amber snuff bottle
1780-1880
Of rounded rectangular form, its cylindrical neck decorated with leiwen
pattern, flat lip, oval foot ring, skillfully carved in rounded relief between
lingzhi head bands to one side with two lively magpies perching on
blooming prunus branches, the reverse depicting a monkey offering a
peach to a swooping bird, with another monkey squatting on the back
of a deer, the narrow sides decorated with two faux lion mask-and-
ring handles; the semi-translucent matrix of a rich honey tone, marked
with small patches of black inclusions.
2 3/4in (7cm) high
$2,500 - 4,000

Provenance
Raymond Li, 1990

Exhibited
Norton Museum of Art, September-November 1997

琥珀喜上眉梢鼻煙壺