Page 17 - Ruth and Carl Barron Snuff Bottles September 2016

Ť413
A CARVED SOAPSTONE SNUFF BOTTLE
JAPAN, 1870-1930
The bottle is carved in high relief with ladies carrying a citron and a
vase with lingzhi and a melon, surrounded by boys holding lanterns
and books, all set against a repetitive geometric ground. The stone is
of opaque tan color with a high polish in the most raised areas.

3 in. (7.6 cm.) high, original soapstone stopper

$2,400-3,400

PROVENANCE

Robert Kleiner, London, 2008.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 4728.

A similar soapstone bottle is discussed and illustrated by M. Hughes
in Small Treasures: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chinese Snuff
Bottles, Hong Kong, 2015, pp. 36-37, no. 23. The author points to the
material having been sourced locally in Japan or possibly in China
from Fujian, where soapstone was a popular material.
䍆垆怳ㅳ㌒㦇⒢հ㎆餶㝳⥘聖㌉

413

Ť414 PROVENANCE
A RARE INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL DOUBLE
SNUFF BOTTLE Robert Hall, London, 2010.
SIGNED ZHU ZHANYUAN, AND DATED TO THE DINGYOU Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 5026.
YEAR (1897)
The two joined bottles are of rectangular section: one bottle is ቡ䍆怶∶ᡥ‫ה‬瀐墔蒓袐ㆉ㦇瀐⥘䑨聖㌉
decorated with a boy seated on a hill flying a kite, the reverse with two
crossed pine trees with mountains in the distance; the other bottle
with an underwater scene containing fish and water plants and an
inscription with the cyclical date dingyou, the artist’s signature, and an
illegible seal, the reverse with a blossoming lotus and one small fish.

2 in. (5.1 cm.) high, glass stoppers

$4,000-6,000

414
(two views)

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