Page 45 - Bonhams Indian Private Collection of Snuff Bottles March 2016 New York

6056
AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS
SNUFF BOTTLE
Wang Xisan, dated Year of the Rooster, 1981
The rounded rectangular bottle flanked with
two faux lion mask-and-ring handles in high
relief, separating two similar paintings to the
front and verso, each portraying roosters,
rocks, and large peony blossoms; one side
titled Bao Xiao Tu (Announcing the Daybreak),
signed Wang Xisan, with one seal mark,
the other side with a dedicatory inscription,
signed, two red seal marks.
2 3/8in (6.1cm) high
$2,000 - 3,000

The dedication inscription on the bottle
reads Ying Liu Yuechu nushi zhu ji’nian hua
Xiongji Tu. It can be translated as ‘Portrayal
of Roosters are painted upon the request of
Madam Liu Yuechu in the Year of Rooster’.

Each of the Chinese zodiac signs rotates 6056 (two views)
every twelve years. Without a specific
context, the dating can indicate 1969, 1981,
1993, etc. See the forward in the exhibition
catalog entitled Great Master Boutique
Exhibition Wang Xisan published in 2011,
p. 5, for a note about Joanna Lau Sullivan’s
first meeting with Wang Xisan in 1981. The
present bottle is among the commissioned
works in Joanna’s collection that was painted
for her to celebrate the Year of Rooster, her
birth year.

1981年 王習三作 玻璃內畫報曉圖鼻煙壺
《於一壺齋習三》款

6057
AN INSIDE-PAINTED RUTILATED
CRYSTAL SNUFF BOTTLE
Wang Xisan, 1982
The rectangular form bottle carefully hollowed
with walls of even thickness, painted to the
interior on one side with two curly-haired
puppies near rocks and leafy flowers, one red
seal mark, the reverse featuring a Pekinese
watching two butterflies in flight, dated
renshu (1982), signed Wang Xisan with studio
name Yihu Zhai.
2 1/2in (6.4cm) high
$4,000 - 6,000

1982年 王習三作 水晶內畫犬蝶紋鼻煙壺
《壬戍□□月作於一壺齋王習三》款

6057 (two views)

CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES FROM TWO AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS | 43