.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
There are many masterpieces of the Zhiting school, but few are more impressive than the present example. A tour de force of hardstone carving, it is carved from the black, grey and white nephrite so beloved of the school. The remarkable stone provided a spectacular canvas for the imaginative carver, and every nuance of color has been used with considerable imagination and to great effect. Particularly noteworthy are the different planes of color used to represent the robes of the central figure, Liu Hai. This bottle is one of the rare sub-groups of the school where the material has been worked using three distinct planes of colors, dark grey, white, and black, giving the carver considerable scope in defining the figure of Liu Hai.
For a discussion on Liu Hai and his three-legged toad, see lot 30. The inscription reading "The celestial guests move about like the water" is a reference to this immortal, the sculpting of whom does possess the fluidity and grace of water. The calligraphy is very similar to that found on other jade bottles in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, nos. 24 and 25, the latter of which was sold in our New York rooms, 29 March 2006, lot 24. An attribution to the same hand is not unreasonable.
For a range of black and white jade bottles attributed to Suzhou in the Mary and George Bloch Collection, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 1, Jade, pp. 318-35, nos. 126-31. The coral stopper on the present bottle, carved with a chi dragon encircling a small pearl, is a popular early form and is a charming enhancement to the bottle. A dragon chasing a flaming pearl symbolizes the search for ultimate perfection.
For a discussion on Liu Hai and his three-legged toad, see lot 30. The inscription reading "The celestial guests move about like the water" is a reference to this immortal, the sculpting of whom does possess the fluidity and grace of water. The calligraphy is very similar to that found on other jade bottles in the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, nos. 24 and 25, the latter of which was sold in our New York rooms, 29 March 2006, lot 24. An attribution to the same hand is not unreasonable.
For a range of black and white jade bottles attributed to Suzhou in the Mary and George Bloch Collection, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 1, Jade, pp. 318-35, nos. 126-31. The coral stopper on the present bottle, carved with a chi dragon encircling a small pearl, is a popular early form and is a charming enhancement to the bottle. A dragon chasing a flaming pearl symbolizes the search for ultimate perfection.