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Lot Essay
Serpentine is a soft stone, easily carved with a steel blade. The serpentine used by the Chinese carver is usually green or yellow, and very rarely black as with the present bottle. The stone wears easily because of its softness and here the surface is evenly and gently smoothed by use over the centuries, imparting to the surface a delightful, velvety softness.
The carving here is unusually fine, and the clouds in particular are masterfully executed with a great sense of movement and energy. The description of the dragon, an unusual hybrid between the scaly long dragon and the more lizard-like chi dragon, is similar to a group of eighteenth-century ink stones and snuff bottles from Gaoyao county in Guangdong province, suggesting a likely place of manufacture for this bottle. Here the dragon spews forth a vapor from which emerges a pearl and five bats. Set below this scene is a carp rising from the waves. The carp struggling upstream symbolizes the aspirations of the scholar, while the dragon represents the scholar having successfully completed the Imperial examinations required to become a government official. The five bats (wufu) represent the five blessings of a rich and full life: longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue, and a natural death, while the combination of bats with clouds (fuyun) symbolizes good fortune. The combination of the dragon, bats and clouds also suggests the popular expression Tai ping sheng shi (A Harmonious and Peaceful World).
The carving here is unusually fine, and the clouds in particular are masterfully executed with a great sense of movement and energy. The description of the dragon, an unusual hybrid between the scaly long dragon and the more lizard-like chi dragon, is similar to a group of eighteenth-century ink stones and snuff bottles from Gaoyao county in Guangdong province, suggesting a likely place of manufacture for this bottle. Here the dragon spews forth a vapor from which emerges a pearl and five bats. Set below this scene is a carp rising from the waves. The carp struggling upstream symbolizes the aspirations of the scholar, while the dragon represents the scholar having successfully completed the Imperial examinations required to become a government official. The five bats (wufu) represent the five blessings of a rich and full life: longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue, and a natural death, while the combination of bats with clouds (fuyun) symbolizes good fortune. The combination of the dragon, bats and clouds also suggests the popular expression Tai ping sheng shi (A Harmonious and Peaceful World).