A VERY RARE INSIDE-PAINTED CRYSTAL BOTTLE
A VERY RARE INSIDE-PAINTED CRYSTAL BOTTLE

SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN, DATED FIFTH MONTH, BINGZI YEAR (1936), WITH ONE SEAL: YIN (SEAL); ATTRIBUTED TO YE BENGQI

Details
A VERY RARE INSIDE-PAINTED CRYSTAL BOTTLE
Signed Ye Zhongsan, dated fifth month, bingzi year (1936), with one seal: Yin (Seal); attributed to Ye Bengqi
Of flattened, rounded-rectangular form, finely painted with a continuous scene of a man on foot leading five pack camels through hilly grasslands, stopper
2 3/8in. (6cm.) high

Lot Essay

From the Studio years, this is a unique subject for the family workshop of Ye Zhongsan. The distinctive style of painting allows an attribution to his youngest son, Ye Bengqi, who together with his brother Ye Xiaofeng went on to found the Communist Beijing School in the mid-1950's

When this bottle was painted in 1936, camels used as beasts of burden were still a fairly common sight in Beijing. Nonetheless, this is still a rare subject for a snuff bottle. The bottle is cleverly painted with a string of five camels so that one sees the first and last camel on the front.

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