MASTER OF THE ROCKS SCHOOL, 1740-1840

Details

A LARGE CARVED GREY AND BLACK JADE SNUFF BOTTLE
MASTER OF THE ROCKS SCHOOL, 1740-1840
The bottle is carved primarily on one side in shallow relief with a man pulling a covered skiff containing a reclining figure towards the shore and a pavilion, all below pine trees and a swirling cloud of white color. The reverse is left largely uncarved at the center, utilizing the silvery black and gray stone to resemble a fog.
2 ¾ in. (7 cm.) high, quartz stopper

Provenance

Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong, 2000.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2937.

Exhibited

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

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Brought to you by

Andrew Lick

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

The Master of the Rocks School seems to have specialized in carvings from this distinctive material. The School's main output was bottles carved with landscape designs, but many other subjects are recorded, including a few with chi dragon designs, which may have been partly produced for the Court. The quality of carving and the use of material of the present bottle are typical of this School.

A comparable example from the Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part V, was sold at Christie’s New York, 13 September 2017, lot 217, and another from the Blanche B. Exstein Collection was sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2002, lot 158. For other examples of snuff bottles from the Master of the Rocks School, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, the Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 332-69, nos. 128-41. The bottle, no. 128, pp. 322-23, exhibits a very similar material and style to the present bottle.

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

View All