Page 28 - September 21 2021 MAnfred Arnold Collection snuff bottles Bonhams NYC

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AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE For a lengthy discussion of this artists fairly small output of bottles
Kui Detian (approximately thirty recorded works) see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham
Signed, 1905-1915 and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and
Of rounded rectangular shape, painted in subdued tones and limited George Bloch Collection, Vol 4, Part 2, pp.526-527, no. 642. There is
palette with a sage reading in a covered pavilion by a gnarled tree only one dated bottle, to 1904, amongst these. Other than a signature,
surrounded by towering mountains with other pavilions in the distance, he kept his inscriptions to a minimum, never sharing the place of
all below the inscription and two seals, the reverse with a man painting nor dedications. The occasional use of the added characters
fishing from a small boat near a stand of trees in the foreground and chuyuan and chuyuan lihua, which mean ‘at the accession of a new
mountains in the distance; stopper. ruler’, presumably referring to the Xuantong emperor who ascended
2 1/4in (5.8cm) high the throne in 1908 (rather than Guangxu who came to the throne
in 1875), combined with the one dated bottle of 1904, suggests a
$3,500 - 4,500 working period of perhaps between 1900-1915. Our bottle bears the
addition of the more commonly seen title bi yi, (brush idea), after the
1905-1915 魁德田 玻璃内畫山水隱士圖鼻煙壺 signature.

Provenance: Much of the early output of this artist is inconsistent in quality and
Hong Kong, 1950 displays a poor draughtsmanship. However by the time he painted this
White Orchid Collection bottle, presumably later in his career, he has vastly improved his pen
Robert Hall, 2013 work. This gem of his oeuvre, perhaps his finest, shows a wonderfully-
handled mountainous landscape with a figure in contemplation against
Literature: a vast backdrop, with a similar fisherman scene to the other side.
Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles XVIII, London, 2013, no. 21
For another example see Humphrey K.F. Hui, Lai Suk Yee and
Peter Y.K. Lam, Inkplay In Microcosm, Inside-painted Chinese Snuff
Bottles, The Humphrey K.F. Hui Collection, Art Museum, The Chinese
University of Hong Kong, 2002, no. 138.

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