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Lot Essay
The poem may be translated: 'When you come across a field, do not accept sandals/To repay someone's kindness, it is always appropriate to give your most precious possessions/In ancient times, a soldier of Qi/In ancient times, a famous man of Dongling.'
Yu Dian was an early Qing literatus from Fuqing, in Fujian province, who passed his jinshi exam in 1706. He was famous for his calligraphy and essay-writing, and died at the age of 72.
This is one of a rare group of Qing bottles in which individual scholars engraved the surface of a range of softer materials. They occur in soapstone, the material beloved of the literati for seals and in other softer materials such as bamboo, coconut shell and wood. Using a diamond-point tool instead of the 'iron brush' of the seal carver, harder materials like glass, porcelain or even jade and quartz could be decorated in a similar manner. As a rule they began to be popular only during the mid-Qing period, but occasionally earlier examples are found. This is one of the earliest known examples, in which a famed scholar has carved a piece of stone from the famous soapstone mines at Shoushan, also in Fujian. It is likely to date from late in Yu's life, perhaps during the early Qianlong period.
For another similarly shaped bottle, also inscribed and signed by a scholar, see G. Tsang and H. Moss, Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, p. 90, no. 132.
Yu Dian was an early Qing literatus from Fuqing, in Fujian province, who passed his jinshi exam in 1706. He was famous for his calligraphy and essay-writing, and died at the age of 72.
This is one of a rare group of Qing bottles in which individual scholars engraved the surface of a range of softer materials. They occur in soapstone, the material beloved of the literati for seals and in other softer materials such as bamboo, coconut shell and wood. Using a diamond-point tool instead of the 'iron brush' of the seal carver, harder materials like glass, porcelain or even jade and quartz could be decorated in a similar manner. As a rule they began to be popular only during the mid-Qing period, but occasionally earlier examples are found. This is one of the earliest known examples, in which a famed scholar has carved a piece of stone from the famous soapstone mines at Shoushan, also in Fujian. It is likely to date from late in Yu's life, perhaps during the early Qianlong period.
For another similarly shaped bottle, also inscribed and signed by a scholar, see G. Tsang and H. Moss, Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, p. 90, no. 132.