SUZHOU SCHOOL, 1750-1850

Details

A WELL-CARVED CAMEO AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
SUZHOU SCHOOL, 1750-1850
Of rounded form, the bottle is carved on one side with a scene of a solitary fisherman looking up at two bats, with a monkey appearing from behind rocks and an inscription reading jiang hong man di yi yu weng (kept company by a flock of river egrets is a lone hoary fisherman). The reverse is carved with trees that frame the scene with fish swimming in waves below, and a central inscription reading de li tu (may you gain a title and wealth).
2 in. (5.1 cm.) high, carved white jade stopper

Provenance

Bob C. Stevens Collection, no. 571.
The Bob C. Stevens Collection of Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part III; Sotheby’s New York, 25 June 1982, lot 99.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.

Literature

B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 571.
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 290-291, no. 127.

Exhibited

Tokyo, Mikimoto Hall, An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles From The Bob C. Stevens Collection, 22-31 October 1978, cat. no. 134.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

While the inscriptions on this bottle point out that the fisherman is kept company by the egrets, the additional imagery of two bats, one shown rightside up and the other upside down, can be interpreted as 'a double blessing (shuangfu)' formed by 'pair' (shuang) and 'bats' (fu). For a further discussion, see T. Bartholomew in Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2006, p. 22.

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