Lot Essay
For a snuff bottle by the same artist, with very similar decoration, see Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, London, 1990, no. 10
Ye Benqi was a member of a family of four, best known for their skills at painting inside snuff bottles and small vessels. According to Robert W. L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 23, no. 20, Hugh Moss learned in an interview with Ye Benqi in Beijing in 1974 that the brothers used to visit the Beijing Museum and memorize the patterns depicted on the authentic glass bottles and wares on display. They would then attempt to re-create them. The results were technically brilliant. However, a comparison of the glass and enameling style soon reveals the differences. Ye family bottles are meticulous to a fault, but lack the vigor and freedom associated with 18th century originals. The enamels are more opaque in the copies and the glass itself lacks the pitting commonly found on the precursors. For further discussion of this group see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. I, New York, 1993, pp. 352-353, no. 205 and Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pp. 65-67, pls. 46-48
Ye Benqi was a member of a family of four, best known for their skills at painting inside snuff bottles and small vessels. According to Robert W. L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 23, no. 20, Hugh Moss learned in an interview with Ye Benqi in Beijing in 1974 that the brothers used to visit the Beijing Museum and memorize the patterns depicted on the authentic glass bottles and wares on display. They would then attempt to re-create them. The results were technically brilliant. However, a comparison of the glass and enameling style soon reveals the differences. Ye family bottles are meticulous to a fault, but lack the vigor and freedom associated with 18th century originals. The enamels are more opaque in the copies and the glass itself lacks the pitting commonly found on the precursors. For further discussion of this group see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. I, New York, 1993, pp. 352-353, no. 205 and Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pp. 65-67, pls. 46-48