Page 88 - Carl Barron Snuff Bottle Collection, CHRISTIE's Spet 12 2018

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A WELL-CARVED RED LACQUER SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, PROBABLY SUZHOU, 1750-1800
The bottle is carved on one side with a scholar standing in a doorway before
an animated fgure gesticulating with a stick, and on the reverse with two ladies
in conversation in an outdoor setting, all on a variety of diaper grounds.
2¿ in. (5.3 cm.) high, carved lacquer stopper and metal spoon
$12,000-15,000
PROVENANCE
Robert Hall, London, 1998.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2720.
EXHIBITED
Boston, International Chinese Snuf Bottle Society Convention,
The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.
The present bottle belongs to a group of carved lacquer bottles that appears to be
Imperial and dates to the eighteenth century. The predominant color used on this group
was cinnabar red, but occasionally green or black were used as contrasts. The subject
matter, typically fgures in a landscape where individuals are in particular groupings with
specifc attributes, is usually drawn from popular dramas, operas or novels, or from myths
and legends. Typically, as seen here, the same fgures appear in diferent scenes on either
side. The shape of this bottle is standard for this group.
A comparable bottle from The Hildegard Schonfeld Collection of Chinese Snuf Bottles
was sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2013, lot 1111. Two other comparable bottles
from the J & J Collection are illustrated in Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese
Snuf Bottle, The J & J Collection, Vol. II, New York, 1993, pp. 527-30, nos. 310 and 311,
the latter of which was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25 April 2004, lot 815. Four further
cinnabar lacquer bottles from this group carved with fgural scenes are in the Qing Court
Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and are illustrated in Masterpieces of Snuf
Bottles in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1995, pp. 187- 90, nos. 192-95. Another is illustrated
in Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuf Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch
Collection, Vol. 7, Part 1, Hong Kong, 2009, pp. 175-82, no. 1538.
1750-1800年 御製剔紅人物故事圖鼻煙壺

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