Page 64 - Bonhams Dicker Collection Snuff Bottles March 2015
P. 64
1090 (two views)
1090
A fine white nephrite ‘brocade-wrapped’ snuff bottle
Possibly Imperial, Palace Workshops, Beijing, 1750-1820 One can easily sense the tremendous patience and impeccable skills
Well-hollowed, of flattened rounded form with a cylindrical neck, that the artisan applied to the carving of this exquisite bottle: from the
flat lip, well-finished oval foot ring, superbly carved in low relief with deeply hollowed interior to the subtleness and even thickness of the
a brocade sash densely incised with floral diapers within leiwen raised work, from every sensitively incised line to the neatly polished
borders, wrapped around the body of the bottle and gracefully rims. Each detail has revealed the outstanding quality the carver has
tied to one side with a trailing ribbon over a qin instrument; the reached in this petite artwork.
evenly-hued translucent stone with a very faint russet strap-shaped
inclusions to one side. The symbolism of the tied brocade has two known indications.
2 3/8in (6cm) high Traditionally, favorite objects were wrapped in brocade cloths and
$6,000 - 8,000 often related to imperial subjects. The design also forms a pictorial
pun for fu (good fortune and happiness).
Provenance
Robert Hall, Washington Convention, 27 October 2000 Compare a similar jade snuff bottle, with a Qianlong mark, sold in our
Josef Neumann, Australia rooms, New York, 20 March 2012, sale 20211, lot 10. Another nearly
identical white jade snuff bottle in the Bloch collection is illustrated
A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch
Collection, Moss, Graham and Tsang, Hong Kong, 1998, vol.1 no 27.
白玉刻錦緞束琴鼻煙壺
62 | BONHAMS
