Page 53 - September 21 2021 MAnfred Arnold Collection snuff bottles Bonhams NYC

435
AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE The subject of three goats (or sheep) and a rising sun was employed
Attributed to Ma Shaoxuan in the decorative arts from at least the Ming dynasty; the Xuande
Signed and dated guimao year, corresponding to 1903 Emperor (1426-35) is known to have executed a painting of the
Of rounded rectangular shape, painted with three goats beneath a subject, but according to Therese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings
willow with the sun overhead, the reverse side with a well-written forty- in Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2006, p. 146,
character inscription relating to the scene of goats, preceded by the 6.16.1, did not gain prominence until the Qianlong period.
date and followed by the signature and seal Shaoxuan; stopper.
2 1/2in (6.5cm) high No distinction is made in Chinese between sheep and goats, yang,
the collective name for sheep, rams, lambs, ewes, and goats is a
$4,000 - 6,000 homophone of yang, the male principle or positive force. Therefore
the depiction of three goats or sheep, sanyang, along with a rising
癸卯年（1903） 傳馬少宣 玻璃内畫「三羊開泰」鼻煙壺 sun, taiyang form the rebus ‘the new year brings a change of fortune’,
sanyang kaitai.
Provenance:
Pat Miller For another bottle depicting the same subject from the Humphrey K.F.
Robert Kleiner, The Pat Miller Collection, 20 September 2007 Hui Collection, see Ma Zengshan, Inside-Painted Snuff Bottle Artist
Ma Shaoxuan, (1867-1939), Baltimore, 1997, p. 49, fig. 35. Another
Exhibited: also dated to 1903 was sold at Christie’s New York, 18-19 September
International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, New York, 5-9 2014, lot 1187.
November 2013, no. 130

THE MANFRED ARNOLD COLLECTION OF CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES | 51