.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The brilliant, luminous orange-yellow material used for this extraordinary bottle is an example of 'Baltic' amber. For further discussion on the various types of amber used in Chinese artworks, see the footnote to lot 3.
Although unsigned, this sumptuous bottle fits in well with a group of snuff bottles signed by the enigmatic Japanese Master Tansan, whose identity is otherwise unknown, but who worked in the late nineteenth century. Two other amber bottles in the J & J Collection bear his signature and are illustrated by Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, pp. 506-9, nos. 299 and 300. Like the present bottle, these two bottles are extraordinarily carved from 'Baltic' amber and have a similar irregular, recessed foot with flat rim.
As squirrels have large litters, the depiction of a squirrel with trailing vines may be a visual rebus for a wish for many sons and the continuation of the family line, the winding vines representing the family lineage. It has also been suggested that the squirrel and grape-vine motif conveys a wish for promotion to a higher rank.
Although unsigned, this sumptuous bottle fits in well with a group of snuff bottles signed by the enigmatic Japanese Master Tansan, whose identity is otherwise unknown, but who worked in the late nineteenth century. Two other amber bottles in the J & J Collection bear his signature and are illustrated by Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, pp. 506-9, nos. 299 and 300. Like the present bottle, these two bottles are extraordinarily carved from 'Baltic' amber and have a similar irregular, recessed foot with flat rim.
As squirrels have large litters, the depiction of a squirrel with trailing vines may be a visual rebus for a wish for many sons and the continuation of the family line, the winding vines representing the family lineage. It has also been suggested that the squirrel and grape-vine motif conveys a wish for promotion to a higher rank.