Page 56 - Christie's Chinese Snuff Bottled the Holden Collection March 24, 2022

835
A CARVED CAMEO AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
SUZHOU SCHOOL, 1770-1830
The bottle is carved on one side with a monkey seated on rocks,
scratching its head with one hand and picking a cluster of lingzhi with the
other with billowing clouds above. The clouds continue on the reverse
above a three-character inscription in relief, cai zhi tu (picture of picking
the herb of immortality).
2º in. (5.7 cm.) high, jadeite stopper
$12,000-18,000
PROVENANCE:
Arthur Gadsby Collection.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 1991, lot 88.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.
LITERATURE:
JICSBS, March 1979, p. 15, fig. 6.
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 158-159,
no. 66.
A captivating example of carving from the town of Suzhou, the
current bottle exploits not only the various tones present in the stone,
but also the pale-brown markings which surround the contemplative
monkey. Through the sparse darker inclusions the monkey is cleverly
carved, directly above the dark lingzhi fungus. This well-hollowed
bottle is yet another example of the carver's ability to adapt the
decoration to the stone in hand.

1770-1830年 蘇作瑪瑙巧雕「採芝圖」鼻煙壺
來源:
Arthur Gadsby珍藏
香港蘇富比, 1991年5月2日, 拍品編號88
何瑞秋珍藏, 紐約
出版:
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會學術期刊》, 1979年3月, 頁15, 圖6
何瑞秋, 《Rivers and Mountains Far from the World - The Rachelle R.
Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary》, 紐約, 1994年, 頁158-159, 編
號66

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