PROBABLY IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1780-1840

Details

A CARVED TWO-COLOR JADEITE SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1780-1840
One side of the bottle is of russet color and carved with a figure holding a scroll, the pale green reverse is carved with the Hehe Erxian twins holding a circular box, all surrounded by delicately carved scrolls.
2 in. (5.1 cm.) high, jadeite stopper

Provenance

Purchased from Frank Caro, Successor to C.T. Loo, New York, 1965.
The Neal W. and Frances R. Hunter Collection; Sotheby's New York, 15 September 1998, lot 260.
Vanessa F. Holden Collection, New York, 1999.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2769.

Exhibited

Boston, International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Lot Essay

The Hehe Erxian, or the Two Immortals of Harmony and Unity, were believed to preside over happy marriages, and are adaptations of two famous poet-monks of the Tang dynasty, Hanshan and Shide. They were one of the more popular subjects for this group of silhouette agate snuff bottles which appear to have flourished in the mid-Qing period. The present bottle is also unique for the quality of the stone and the crispness of the carving of the c-scrolls.

More from The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part V

View All