1770-1850

Details

A CARVED ROOT AMBER SNUFF BOTTLE
1770-1850
The bottle is of irregular form and is carved through the opaque yellow-ochre markings to the honey-tone ground with a pair of magpies perched on blossoming prunus branches bearing delicate buds.
2 3⁄8 in. (6 cm.) high, coral stopper

Provenance

Sigurd Larsen.
Bob C. Stevens Collection, no. 703.
The Bob C. Stevens Collection of Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part II; Sotheby’s New York, 26 March 1982, lot 193.
Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York.

Literature

B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 703.
R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, A Personal Commentary, New York, 1994, pp. 92-93, no. 33.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Conditions of sale

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asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

One of the exotic materials used for snuff bottles, amber is the translucent fossilized resin of ancient coniferous trees from the Tertiary period. Three main varieties of amber were used: a range of transparent brown, golden-brown and reddish amber; a yellow, cloudy amber associated with the Baltic; and 'root amber', such as this bottle, where the range of material has inclusions of opaque yellow-ochre and brown colors. 'Root' amber, is so called because it was believed that the resin combines with clay at the root of the tree to obtain its color. However, it is more likely that the color is the result of a chemical process.

Amber was valued long before the snuff-bottle era and was considered to be a symbol of longevity, since it was known to have laid in the ground being transformed over a long period of time. It would have become a popular material for snuff bottles from very early in the development of the art-form.

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