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Lot Essay
The distinctive type of embellishment known as 'Shibayama' was developed toward the end of the 18th century by Onogi Senzo of Shibayama, a small village in Chiba prefecture across the bay from Tokyo. When Onogi moved to Tokyo he changed his name to Shibayama, which then developed into a generic term for decoration combining lacquer and the embellishment of a number of other materials (see Bob C. Stevens, 'Chinese Snuff Bottles Made in Japan', Arts of Asia, July/August 1973, pp. 41-45).
Other amber bottles decorated in the same manner and unquestionably by the same hand, include one illustrated by Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, no. 217; and another from the Princeton Museum of Art, Newsletter of the American Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, June 1974, p. 10, fig. 20.
This is one of the rare bottles decorated in Japan without any stylistic reference to China. In the past bottles of this group have also been attributed to China, but in this case, with their typically Japanese Shibayama style of workmanship, the Japanese origin of the decoration is beyond question. The bottle itself is most likely Japanese and, like the Bloch example, made specifically to be embellished. Among the most outstanding examples of Shibayama snuff bottles, this bottle was one of Bob Steven's favorites when it was in his collection and later was one of Julie Li's favorites when it entered the J & J Collection.
Other amber bottles decorated in the same manner and unquestionably by the same hand, include one illustrated by Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, no. 217; and another from the Princeton Museum of Art, Newsletter of the American Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, June 1974, p. 10, fig. 20.
This is one of the rare bottles decorated in Japan without any stylistic reference to China. In the past bottles of this group have also been attributed to China, but in this case, with their typically Japanese Shibayama style of workmanship, the Japanese origin of the decoration is beyond question. The bottle itself is most likely Japanese and, like the Bloch example, made specifically to be embellished. Among the most outstanding examples of Shibayama snuff bottles, this bottle was one of Bob Steven's favorites when it was in his collection and later was one of Julie Li's favorites when it entered the J & J Collection.