Page 106 - Fine Chinese, Japanese and Buddhist Art September 28, 2018 Galerie Zacke

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A CARVED ‘BOYS AND BUFFALO’ LAPIS LAZULI SNUFF BOTTLE, A SMALL EMBELLISHED ‘POMEGRANATE’ CORAL SNUFF BOTTLE,
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QING DYNASTY 19 CENTURY
The stone of intense blue color with a cloud of light aquamarine blue and Coral with neatly incised inlays made from turquoise, amber and lapis
small speckles of gold and silver. lazuli.
th
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China, 19 century The bottle: China, 19 century, possibly even a bit earlier.
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Neatly incised and skillfully carved in light relief to depict two boys, one The embellishment: Japan, late 19 – early 20 century.
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holding a whip, and a water buffalo under a pine and wutong tree, both Of peach form with flat top and recessed foot surrounded by an oval foot
emerging from craggy layered rocks. The bark of the pine tree and the rim, the embellishments carved in crisp relief with a pomegranate on a
clothes of the boys rendered in full detail. stem with two slender leaves growing from an ornamental rock.
Shape: Bulbous ovoid form Coral is a symbol of longevity, due to its resemblance to a tree that seems
Hollowing: Excellent to last forever. It was also a symbol of the first rank as civil officers of
Mouth, neck and lip: Sprawling short neck, slanted lip and very small the first rank wore coral buttons on their hats. Coral was highly valued
mouth at Court and was considered to be the third most valuable gem. In the
Base: Round flat base with tiny, raised foot rim catalogue of the Exhibition of Ching Dynasty Costume Accessories, page
Design, marks, school: Official school 31, the order of value is given as pearl, ruby, coral, sapphire, lapis lazuli,
Stopper: Matching Beijing school stopper with good old spoon quartz, shell etc. Coral was also the material used for the Emperor’s Court
Height of the bottle with stopper: 6,1 cm. necklace when worshipping at the Altar of the Sun, matched by a coral
Width of the mouth: 4 mm. belt. Coral snuff bottles were produced for the Court throughout the early
Width of the neck: 16 mm. to mid-Qing period, and apart from the Palace workshops, we are told in
Weight: 68,3 grams Masterpieces of Snuff Bottles in the Palace Museum, page 29, that the
Condition: Perfect records reveal that snuff bottles made of gems and gemstones (which
Provenance: Hungarian private collection included coral) were mostly produced at Imperial lapidary workshops in
Suzhou and Yangzhou by order of the Emperor.
㶭ẋ曺慹䞛”䪍⫸䈏䈃”滣䂇⢢
⻟䁰䘬㶙啵刚ⷞ㚱ᶨ䇯暚䉨䘬Ṗ⮞䞛啵炻溆䵜叿⮷悐↮䘬慹⍲戨 The rarity of genuine early and mid-Qing coral snuff bottles is presumably
ᷕ⚳炻IJĺᶾ䲨 due to the fact that only the occasional branch was large enough to make
⑩䚠㤝⤥ even a small snuff bottle. Several of the earliest known coral bottles were
⊰䈁⇑䥩Ṣ㓞啷 made in segments joined together, or when made from flawed material
(which was all that was available), requiring either patches of coral inlaid
EstimateġEUR 400,- to fill flaws, or wax inlays.
Starting price EUR 200,-
Shape: Pear
Hollowing: Good
Mouth, neck and lip: Flat top with tiny mouth
Base: Oval with raised foot rim
Stopper: Green nephrite
Height of the bottle with stopper: 4,6 cm.
Width of the mouth: 4 mm.
Width of the neck: 12 mm.
Weight: 24,3 grams
Condition: Excellent. Remainders of old glue near the inlays.
Provenance: Hungarian private collection

⮷䍲䐂ⶏ晽”䞛㥜剙”滣䂇⢢炻19ᶾ䲨
䍲䐂⢢幓炻ᶲ晽䵈㜦䞛ˣ䏍䍨⍲曺慹䞛
⢢幓烉ᷕ⚳炻19ᶾ䲨ㆾ㚜㖑
晽梦烉㖍㛔炻19ᶾ䲨㘂㛇军20ᶾ䲨⇅㛇
⑩䚠㤝⤥
⊰䈁⇑䥩Ṣ㓞啷

EstimateġEUR 400,-
Starting price EUR 200,-

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