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Lot Essay
The popular subject of Zhong Kui, the Demon-queller, escorting his sister to her wedding can be found on other snuff bottles painted by the Ye family; see the JICSBS, Autumn 1982, p. 25, figs. 55 and 56, p. 31, fig. 67a and p. 43, fig. 115; ibid., Spring 1984, p. 51, fig. 140 and p. 55, fig. 153; and ibid., Autumn 1984, p. 80, fig. 234. Such bottles probably expressed a wish for an auspicious marriage. For further information on Zhong Kui, see V. Mead, 'The Confucian Woman', JICSBS, September 1978, p. 14; and R. Li, Chinese Snuff Bottle Themes. Popular Stories and Fables, pp. 54-57.
On the other side of the bottle is another of Ye's popular early subjects showing the results of a teacher sleeping at his desk when he should be teaching. Other examples of this subject by Ye Zhongsan, both dated 1896, are illustrated by R. W. L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, no. 272; and by R. Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, no. 29. For a later bottle from the Ye family studio of the same subject, see JICSBS, Spring 1984, p. 58, fig. 161a.
Although the subject was originally Zhou Leyuan's, Ye has moved away from his influence to create a style which could only have come from his own hand. This represents the early and best phase of the style for which he was to become most famous - charming genre scenes and illustrations from famous books and myths, confidently painted with a bright, colorful palette, and showing a distinct preference for blue in the early years of the 20th century. This is one of the last bottles by Ye to bear the seal Huayin ('Painting Seal') which he discontinued after 1900.
On the other side of the bottle is another of Ye's popular early subjects showing the results of a teacher sleeping at his desk when he should be teaching. Other examples of this subject by Ye Zhongsan, both dated 1896, are illustrated by R. W. L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, no. 272; and by R. Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, no. 29. For a later bottle from the Ye family studio of the same subject, see JICSBS, Spring 1984, p. 58, fig. 161a.
Although the subject was originally Zhou Leyuan's, Ye has moved away from his influence to create a style which could only have come from his own hand. This represents the early and best phase of the style for which he was to become most famous - charming genre scenes and illustrations from famous books and myths, confidently painted with a bright, colorful palette, and showing a distinct preference for blue in the early years of the 20th century. This is one of the last bottles by Ye to bear the seal Huayin ('Painting Seal') which he discontinued after 1900.