Page 45 - Christie's Chinese Snuff Bottled the Holden Collection March 24, 2022

~823
AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL SNUFF BOTTLE
SIGNED MA SHAOXUAN, DATED TO MID-SPRING OF THE BINGSHEN A bottle with a similar design from the Muse Collection is illustrated
YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1896 by C. Chu in Chinese Snuff Bottles from Southern Californian Collectors,
The bottle is painted on one side with butterflies fluttering amidst Hong Kong, 2016, pg. 74.
flowers below an inscription reading huantian xidi (the happiness of
heaven and the joy of earth). The reverse is painted with panels of 丙申年(1896) 馬少宣作玻璃內畫「歡天喜地」圖鼻煙壺
calligraphy, rubbings, and paintings.
2¬ in. (6.7 cm.) high, coral and pearl stopper 來源:
Robert Hall, 倫敦, 1992年
$15,000-25,000 何瑞秋珍藏, 紐約
PROVENANCE: 出版:
Robert Hall, London, 1992. 何瑞秋, 《Rivers and Mountains Far from the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary》, 紐約, 1994年, 頁216-217, 編
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.
號92
LITERATURE:
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 216-217,
no. 92.

The motif of butterflies and flowers is frequently called "The
Happiness of Heaven and the Joy of the Earth" or "Butterflies at Play"
and suggests a wish that the recipient of the bottle receive the highest
standing in the imperial examinations. (R. Li, Chinese Snuff Bottle
Themes: Popular Stories and Fables, Hong Kong, 1983, p. 14)

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