Details
A SUPERBLY CARVED SUZHOU AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
1740-1860

Finely carved with a continuous rocky landscape scene with two Immortals, one standing on a terrace, holding a beribboned ruyi sceptre and looking at a flying bat, and the other, Liu Hai, shaded by a pine tree and holding his three-legged toad which is exhaling a billowing cloud of vapour, the varying shades of brown and beige inclusions worked to complement of carved decoration, stopper
2 1/8 in. (5.31 cm.) high
Provenance
Arthur Gadsby
Hugh Moss
Literature
Hugh Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles of the Silica or Quartz Group, front cover and p. 67, no. 75
JICSBS, December 1977, p. 18, nos. 18 and 19
Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, p. 114, no. 204
JICSBS, March 1979, p. 18, fig. 21
Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J&J Collection, vol. 1, no. 140
The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, Poly Art Museum, Beijing, p. 38
The Miniature World - An Exhibition of Snuff Bottles from the J & J Collection, Taipei, p. 43
Exhibited
Hugh M. Moss ltd., London, September 1974
Hong Kong Museum of Art, October-December 1978
Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1996-1997
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997
Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002
International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003
Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 2003

Lot Essay

Liu Hai is the immortal associated with commercial success. He is nearly always portrayed with his three-legged toad and cash, and conveys a wish for prosperity. The three-legged toad itself has origins in the magical realm, representing the unattainable. It was only in later Chinese art that it was associated with Liu Hai. The auspicious wish for prosperity is strengthened by the symbolic meanings of the ruyi sceptre held in the hand of the other immortal, and the bat. The word ruyi means 'as you wish', while the word for bat in Chinese 'fu' is homophonous with that for 'fortune'. The bottle thus, carries numerous wishes for riches and good fortune.

There are many masterpieces of the Suzhou school, but none in the chalcedony range more impressive than this bottle. The use of the striped, beautifully textured material is exquisite and very rare. The different tones of color have been used on varying planes, enhancing the sculptural quality of the carved decoration.

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