Page 48 - Christie's Chinese Snuff Bottled the Holden Collection March 24, 2022

827
A CARVED CAMEO AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
SUZHOU SCHOOL, 1750-1820
The bottle is carved through the white skin on one side with a monkey shown crouching in a
cave. The reverse is carved with shallow rocks and has a calligraphic insciption carved in a darker
inclusion reading cai zhi xian cao ying chang chun (everlasting spring is reflected in the celestial herb
of immortality).
1æ in. (4.4 cm.) high, jade stopper
$12,000-18,000
PROVENANCE:
Janos Szekeres Collection, Connecticut.
Sotheby's New York, 27 October, 1986, lot 174.
Christie's New York, 27 November 1991, lot 123.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.
EXHIBITED:
The New Orleans Museum of Art, October 1980.

LITERATURE:
JICSBS, June 1975, cover.
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal
Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 160-161, no. 67.

The monkey (hou) is often seen as a pun for marquis (hou) and expresses a wish for advancement
in rank. For a further discussion of the monkey's symbolism, see, T. Bartholomew, Hidden
Meanings in Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2006, pp. 118-120.

1750-1820年 蘇作瑪瑙巧雕「採芝仙草映長春」鼻煙壺
來源:
Janos Szekeres珍藏, 康涅狄格州
紐約蘇富比, 1986年10月27日, 拍品編號174
紐約佳士得, 1991年11月27日, 拍品編號123
何瑞秋珍藏, 紐約
展覽:
新奧爾良藝術博物館, 1980年10月
出版:
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會學術期刊》, 1975年6月封面
何瑞秋, 《Rivers and Mountains Far from the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal
Commentary》, 紐約, 1994年, 頁160-161, 編號67

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