YE FAMILY, APRICOT GROVE STUDIO, BEIJING, DATED SECOND MONTH OF THE XINYOU YEAR (1921)

This extremely unusual bottle was painted by a member of the Ye family, and almost certainly by Ye Zhongsan himself, although in 1913 Ye was joined in his studio by his eldest son, Ye Bengzhen, and shortly thereafter by Ye Xiaofeng. According to Wang Xisan, it was Ye himself who painted the series of bottles with many boys (sometimes depicting one hundred, sometimes less). See Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 4, Inside Painted, no. 645, for a discussion on Ye Zhongsan and his sons.

Ye began painting his well-known small group of children playing in 1896 and continued to do so throughout his career. The far more complex designs representing the famous story of one hundred boys, however, were produced far less frequently. Both subjects convey a desire for male progeny, and carry a blessing for abundant descendents. The subject is commonly referred to as 'One Hundred Boys' regardless of the actual number of children involved. For other examples of the same subject by Ye Zhongsan, see B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, no. 923, Christie's, London, 10 May 1976, lot 16; Sotheby's, London, 2 July 1984, lot 112 and JICSBS, Spring 1984, p. 53, fig. 47. As discussed in the footnote to lot 68, Ye Zhongsan's mature style displayed attention to detail and color, as seen on this bottle.