1740-1880

Details

**A RUSSET AND GREYISH-GREEN JADE PEBBLE SNUFF BOTTLE
1740-1880
Of flattened form with slightly irregular rounded rectangular profile, with slightly concave lip and shallow, concave oval foot, with one slightly convex side highlighted by retained russet skin, the other main side smooth and of even, greyish-green tone, malachite stopper with coral finial and vinyl collar
2 in. (7.34 cm.) high

Provenance

Ko Collection
Christie's London, 8 November 1976, lot 111

Literature

Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, Vol. 1, no. 40

Exhibited

Christie's, New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum für 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

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

This bottle is one of a distinctive group dated to the mid-Qing period that is made of white nephrite using only the natural russet-brown skin of the pebble as decoration. The raw material used for the bottles was cut from a fairly large boulder or pebble, since the curve of the boulder is surmised from the disposition of the russet skin.

The powerful abstract design that results from the combination of a white pebble with its own skin remains popular among connoisseurs. The skin on the present bottle has a sumptuous range of texture and color. See three very similar bottles; a pair from the collection of Edith Griswold, in L. Perry, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Adventures & Studies of a Collector, p. 106, nos. 88-89, and another in The Au Hang Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, p. 78, no. 98. Two similar bottles formerly from the Meriem Collection were sold in these rooms, 19 September 2007, lot 654 and 19 March 2008, lot 227.

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