Page 49 - September 21 2021 MAnfred Arnold Collection snuff bottles Bonhams NYC

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AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE See Ma Zengshan, Inside-Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shaoxuan,
Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939), Baltimore, 1997, pp. 39-46, for a lengthy discussion
Signed and dated gengzi year, corresponding to 1900 of Ma’s Beijing opera performer depictions, in particular that of the
Well painted on one main face with a portrait of the actor Tan Xinpei in famous actor Tan Xinpei (1847-1917) in the role of General Huang
the role of General Huang Zhong, the reverse side with a twenty-eight- Zhong (d. 220). Ma notes that it constituted perhaps the most
character inscription followed by the signature and seal Shaoxuan; significant achievement of his early career. Tan Xinpei, twenty year’s
stopper. Ma’s senior, was a already famous Beijing opera star giving command
2 3/8in (6.1cm) high performances in the Imperial palace. His popularity had spread
throughout Chinese society, among the scholar gentry, peasants,
$2,000 - 3,000 artisans and merchants to high officials and aristocrats, even reaching
the most exalted sphere of the Manchu court, where members of the
庚子年（1900）馬少宣 玻璃內畫譚鑫培京劇人物鼻煙壺 imperial family, including the Empress Dowager Cixi, loved to see him
perform. The author also illustrates a near identical bottle, ibid, p. 44,
Provenance: fig 19, from the Collection of Susan B. Hacker.
Sotheby’s, London, 11 October 1974, lot 47
Alice B. McReynolds For another similar example in more pastel shades, see Sotheby’s,
Sotheby’s, New York, The Alice B. McReynolds Collection, Part II, 16 Hong Kong, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Part IX, 24
April 1985, lot 195 November 2014, lot 17; another at Sotheby’s, New York, The Joe
Grimberg Collection, 14 September 2010, lot 38; and a signed but
Exhibited: undated example is illustrated by Denis S.K. Low, More Treasures from
International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, Waldorf Astoria, the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 342, no.
New York, 5-9 November 2013, no. 34 308.

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