OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1780-1850

Details

A SILHOUETTE AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1780-1850
The bottle is carved using the dark markings on one side with a tiger attacking a warrior with a shield, with a bird hovering above.
2 9⁄16 in. (6.5 cm.) high, glass stopper

Provenance

David Borowitz Collection.
Christie's New York, 23 February 1982, lot 298.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.

Literature

R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 170-171, no. 72.
JICSBS, Winter 1998, p. 6, fig. 3.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Margaret Gristina (葛曼琪) Senior Specialist, VP

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

For a discussion of the subject depicted on this bottle, see K.B. Tsang, "The Tiger: King of all Animals," in the JICSBS, Winter 1998, pp. 5-12, where the author notes, "The most popular tiger-killing hero, however, is likely to be Wu Song, a character noted for his strength and valor in Shuihu zhuan (Water Margin), a novel written by Shi Nai'an during the fourteenth century about the various deeds of a group of righteous robbers. Wu Song disregarded the advice of the owner of a wine shop where he had drunk eighteen bowls of strong wine to stay there for the night. He insisted on embarking on his journey home through Jingyang Ridge where a man-eating tiger was known to prowl." The author continues, "This crucial, life-or-death struggle between man and beast has inspired many artists working in different media."

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