Page 56 - Carl Barron Snuff Bottle Collection, CHRISTIE's Spet 12 2018

•663
A WELL-CARVED AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
ZHITING SCHOOL, SUZHOU, 1750-1850
The bottle is carved in relief on one side using dark areas of the honey-colored stone with
a robed fgure holding a lantern and two recumbent goats looking on. The reverse is
carved with two frolicking horses standing near a pine tree and lingzhi.
1√ in. (4.7 cm.) high, carnelian stopper
$30,000-50,000
PROVENANCE
The Martin Schoen Collection.
Neal W. and Frances R. Hunter Collection; Sotheby’s New York, 15 September 1998, lot 384.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2706.
The town of Suzhou, famous for its gardens and canals, was one of the main cultural
centers in China, attracting painters, calligraphers, poets, musicians and other talented
individuals. Their pursuits comprise the main subject matter of the group of acclaimed
snuf bottles intricately carved from agate and jade.
Another carved agate bottle of similar shape and size from the Blanche B. Exstein
Collection, was sold in these rooms, 21 March 2002, lot 188. For a series of related Zhiting
School Suzhou agate bottles, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuf
Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 2, Part 2, Quartz, Hong Kong, 1998,
pp. 504-547, no. 366-79.
1750-1850年 蘇作芝亭流派瑪瑙雕人物圖鼻煙壺

54