Page 53 - Christie's Chinese Snuff Bottled the Holden Collection March 24, 2022

831
A FINELY CARVED WHITE JADE SNUFF BOTTLE
1740-1850
The bottle is delicately carved as a cinched sack with a monkey
clambering up a peony spray in an attempt to untie the ribbon around
the neck, with the ends of the ribbon elegantly trailing down the side.
27 in. (7 cm.) high, glass stopper
$15,000-25,000

PROVENANCE:
Christie's New York, 27 November 1991, lot 126.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.
LITERATURE:
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp.154-155,
no. 64.

A bottle of this design, and possibly by the same workshop, is
illustrated by H. Moss, V. Graham and K. B. Tsang in The Art of the
Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection, New York, 1993, p. 58, no.
17, as well as two other related bottles of this subject, pp. 56-57 and
p. 59, nos. 16 and 18. The subject is laden with auspicious symbolism;
the monkey (hou) and the bag (dai) represent a wish for descendants
(houdai), while the sash (shoudai) suggests longevity. The peony, known
as the 'king of flowers', is also a symbol of love and affection, feminine
beauty and springtime. Additionally, Terese Tse Bartholomew discusses
in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 2006, p.123, that
"as the 'King of the Flowers,' the peony is equivalent to the first rank
among officials. This flower is closely associated with royalty because it
was grown in the imperial gardens of the Sui and Tang dynasties."

1740-1850年 白玉雕代代封侯鼻煙壺

來源:
紐約佳士得, 1991年11月27日, 拍品編號126
何瑞秋珍藏, 紐約
出版:
何瑞秋, 《Rivers and Mountains Far from the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary》, 紐約, 1994年, 頁154-155, 編
號64

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