Page 108 - September 21 2021 MAnfred Arnold Collection snuff bottles Bonhams NYC

482
A NEPHRITE JADE SNUFF BOTTLE Exhibited:
1740-1840 International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, Waldorf Astoria,
Of archaic cong shape, primarily a cylinder within a square form, seven New York, 5-9 November 2013, no. 140
slightly concave horizontal bands forming a trigram-like design around
the body, the pale green-brown stone with areas of russet coloring For a very similar example, see Michael C. Hughes, Chinese Snuff
with cream inclusions and an extremely attractive soft polish overall Bottles, The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Baltimore, 2009, pp.
to a lightly pitted surface, the cylindrical neck rising from very slightly 28-29, no. 14, where the author discusses the use of archaic forms
rising shoulders, a small mouth, the interior well hollowed, a flat circular in Qing snuff bottle production. The cong was an archaic burial jade
foot ring with a shallow concave base; stopper. that, because of its unusual form (a circle within a square), came to
2 7/8in (7.2cm) high represent heaven and earth. However the function and meaning of
these enigmatic Neolithic period ritual jades is still under discussion.
$4,000 - 5,000 The decorative motifs on the early Liasngzhu culture (c. 4,000-2,500
BCE) cong, comprise face patterns, relief bars, and circles. It was
1740-1840 琮式玉鼻煙壺 typical for Liangzhu cong to be decorated with masks on the four
corners but arranged in simple horizontal bars, which themselves
Provenance: are sub-divided by horizontal lines and grooves. Our simplified form
A Private U.S. Collection however still clearly exhibits its neolithic antecedent.
Michael C. Hughes LLC, 10 April 2012

Literature:
Raymond Li, The Medicine - Snuff Bottle Connection, Hong Kong,
1979, front cover and p. 76, fig 315

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