A WHITE JADE 'BASKETWEAVE' SNUFF BOTTLE
Items which contain rubies or jadeite originating … Read more
A WHITE JADE 'BASKETWEAVE' SNUFF BOTTLE

IMPERIAL, 1740-1860

Details
A WHITE JADE 'BASKETWEAVE' SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, 1740-1860
The flattened, rounded bottle is well carved with an overall basket-weave pattern between thin 'rope' bands at the shoulder and above the foot. The stone is of even, greenish-white tone.
1 7/8 in. (4.7 cm.) high, jadeite stopper
Provenance
Susan Lapidus (1948-2008) Collection, acquired 1969-2005.
Special notice
Items which contain rubies or jadeite originating in Burma (Myanmar) may not be imported into the U.S. As a convenience to our bidders, we have marked these lots with Y. Please be advised that a purchaser¹s inability to import any such item into the U.S. or any other country shall not constitute grounds for non-payment or cancellation of the sale. With respect to items that contain any other types of gemstones originating in Burma (e.g., sapphires), such items may be imported into the U.S., provided that the gemstones have been mounted or incorporated into jewellery outside of Burma and provided that the setting is not of a temporary nature (e.g., a string).
Sale room notice
Please note that a party [parties] with a financial interest will be bidding on this lot.

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Lot Essay

It was common practice to protect large jars with an outer casing of a variety of woven or plaited materials, and snuff bottles simulating a vessel tightly contained in a wicker basket or entirely simulating basketweave are found in a variety of materials including ivory, jade, amber, rock crystal, molded gourd and glass. For a discussion on the series of 'basketweave' snuff bottles in various materials see H. Moss, V. Graham, and K.B. Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 2, Part 2, Quartz, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 450-51, no. 347, where it is suggested that the design was a popular Imperial subject of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The popularity of the basketweave design, in general, at the Court may arise from the probable symbolism of the basket (lanzi), which is a pun on male children (nanzi), one of the three desires dear to the Chinese heart, which are embodied in the term sanduo (Three Plenties).

A similar white jade 'basketweave' bottle, without the 'rope' borders, from the Hildegard Schonfeld Collection was sold at Christie's New York, 21 March 2013, lot 1110.

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