Page 101 - September 21 2021 MAnfred Arnold Collection snuff bottles Bonhams NYC

474
A SILVER AND GOLD-INLAID BLACK-LACQUERED WOOD inscriptions cast in bronze and inscribed in stone, this rather mundane
SNUFF BOTTLE text began a second life when it was printed in 1804 in Ruan Yuan’s
Dated autumn day, dingyou year, 1897 Jiguzhai zhong ding yi qi kuan shi Vol. 9, p.30, a major compendium
Decorated on one side with a landscape scene with a scholar on of early script styles and inscriptions. Ruan Yuan’s book was reprinted
a bridge below the date, the reverse with a twenty-five-character numerous times throughout the 19th century, and the inscriptions
calligraphic inscription; stopper. contained within became sources of inspiration for painters and
2 1/2in (6.3cm) high calligraphers, as well as those who sought to adorn everyday objects
with an air of antiquity by using early script styles.
$2,500 - 3,500
Interestingly, Bob C. Stevens, The Collector’s Book of Snuff Bottles,
丁酉年(1897) 木胎黑漆錯金銀鼻煙壺 New York and Tokyo, 1976, pp. 200-201, no. 747op. cit., illustrates
the reverse side of our bottle alongside a similarly decorated example
Provenance: with chrysanthemum and rockwork on the main face, that bears the
Bessie K. Shierson identical inlaid archaic-form inscription to ours. That bottle bears the
Sotheby’s, New York, The Bessie K. Shierson Collection, 25 February three-character seal of Ye Qianzhai, (Ya Chien-chai), possibly the
1982, lot 94 maker, to the base. The use of the identical inlay and one side and a
similar use of media to the other, would suggest the strong likelihood
Literature: that they are from the same hand or at least workshop. Yet another
Bob C. Stevens, The Collector’s Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and bottle with the identical twenty-four character inscription on one side
Tokyo, 1976, pp. 200-201, no. 747 (twenty-five-character calligraphic (and two archaic bronze vessels on the other) is illustrated by Clare
side only and mis-dated 1895, the date of the inlaid poem) Lawrence, Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom, The
Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, London, 1996, pp. 40-
Exhibited: 41, no. 14.
International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, New York, 5-9
November 2013, no. 21 For another bottle of similar type dated to 1891 (or possibly 1831),
see Denis S.K. Low, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Sanctum of
The cyclical date is followed by Qiu ri zuo “autumn day made”. Enlightened Respect III, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 2007,
p. 349, no. 302. Another example with a landscape scene to one side
The twenty five-character inscription inlaid in silver wire to this snuff and the maker’s name Xiaoshan is illustrated by Robert Hall, Chinese
bottle originally was inscribed along the rim of a Western Han dynasty Snuff Bottles XII, p. 61, no. 83; and a cylindrical bottle dated to 1888 is
bronze xuan vessel, cast in the tenth month of the first year of the illustrated by Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury
Yuanyan era of Emperor Cheng (12 bce). It reads 長安共厨銅三斗鋗卅 Of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol.
枚苐廿重十五斤八兩元延元年十月造. As with many early Chinese 7, Part 2, Organic, Metal, Mixed Media,, pp.427-429, no. 1645.

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