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Lot Essay
The subject of squirrels and grapes, although a popular one in other media such as coral, amber and jade, and molded porcelain snuff bottles from the nineteenth century, it is rarely found in inside-painted snuff bottles, and is a subject which Ma Shaoxuan treated but a few times during his career. Another bottle by Ma painted with this subject, but bearing an inscription on the reverse, was purchased by Bob C. Stevens from Japan in 1966 and is illustrated in The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottle, New York, 1976, no. 862. Two other examples by Ma bearing this subject, but also inscribed with calligraphy on the reverse, include one dated to 1896 in the Russell Mullin Collection, and one from the Ko Collection, dated to the same year as the present bottle, 1897. The squirrels and grapes design of each bottle is essentially the same and each is exquisitely painted with the same sort of meticulous technique Ma used in his portraits, with unusually realistic detail, shading and attention to detail. The present bottle, however, appears to be unique in its unusual combination of squirrels with paired birds of various kinds, itself a very rare subject. The five pairs of birds, which are derived from an archetypal painting subject of the Ming dynasty, represent important aspects of human relationships - those of the Emperor with his officials, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, friends and brothers.