Page 26 - Christie's Chinese Snuff Bottled the Holden Collection March 24, 2022

809
AN ENAMELED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
WANG XISAN, BEIJING, 1964 from those of his teachers, or, in some cases, from earlier Qianlong
examples. The two-character reign mark in seal script seen on the
The bottle is decorated overall with lushly flowering peach branches
present bottle was only used on enameled wares in the early 1960s.
bearing two large, ripe fruit on either side, all set on a yellow ground
Compare to a floral decorated bottle of similar form on white glass
beneath a blue key-fret band on the neck. The base has an apocryphal
from the J&J Collection illustrated in H. Moss, The Art of the Chinese
Qianlong mark.
Snuff Bottle, J&J Collection, vol. 1, p. 355, no. 207. It is also notable that
2¿ in. (5.5 cm.) high, bronze stopper
the attribution of the current bottle to Wang Xisan was confirmed by
$20,000-30,000 Rachelle R. Holden in written correspondence with the artist.
PROVENANCE:
For a further discussion of the artist Wang Xisan, see Moss, Graham,
Bob C. Stevens Collection, no. 1029.
Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, the Mary and George Bloch
The Bob C. Stevens Collection of Fine and Important Chinese Snuff
Collection, Volume 6, Part 1, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 273-275, where
Bottles, Part II; Sotheby’s New York, 26 March 1982, lot 77.
the authors note: “As an artistic genius, Wang rapidly became one
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.
of the finest of all enamellers, both artistically and technically, that
EXHIBITED: China has ever produced.” The artist paints glass snuff bottles and
Tokyo, Mikimoto Hall, An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles From The interior-painted snuff bottles, showing great artistry in both. The
Bob C. Stevens Collection, 22-31 October 1978, cat. no. 370. present example is typical of the quality of his painting on glass.
Generally executed in famille rose enamels with floral subjects beneath a
LITERATURE:
H. Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles Number Four, London, 1966, p. 41, color decorative border, his works echo the best enameled bottles produced
pl. M. at the imperial workshops during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. The decoration of the current bottle is based on a Qianlong-period
1029. prototype. (Fig.1)
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 72-73, 1964年 王習三作玻璃胎畫琺瑯桃紋鼻煙壺
no. 23.
來源:
Bob C. Stevens珍藏, 編號1029
Born in 1938, Wang Xisan (Wang Ruicheng) was the star pupil of
Bob C. Stevens珍藏重要中國鼻煙壺 (第二部分), 紐約蘇富比, 1982年3月
Ye Bengqi, the son of Ye Zhongsan, the artist who revitalized the 26日, 拍品編號77
Beijing school of painting in the late 1950s. Ye Bengqi took up the 何瑞秋珍藏, 紐約
art of enameling again in the early 1960s to teach Wang Xisan, and
展覽:
it is sometimes difficult to distinguish earlier Wang Xisan bottles
東京御木本會館, 「Bob C. Stevens珍藏中國鼻煙壺」, 1978年10月22至31日,
圖錄編號370
出版:
莫士撝, 《Chinese Snuff Bottles Number Four》, 倫敦, 1966, 頁 41, 圖版M
B. Stevens, 《鼻煙壺收藏指南》, 紐約, 1976年, 編號1029
何瑞秋, 《Rivers and Mountains Far from the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary》, 紐約, 1994年, 頁72-73,
編號23

Fig.1 A famille rose enamel on glass snuff bottle, Qianlong incised seal mark and of the
period, The Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

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