.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The inscription near the signature reads: Huan Tian Xi Di which can be translated as "Happiness in heaven and earth".
The Ba-Po include a fan painting after Shima Zhong, a circular fan painting by Zhu Da, a Tang rubbing, another Tang rubbing by O'yang Xun and a calligraphy by Pan Zuyin.
For an identical bottle dated to the following year, 1896, see Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far from the World, New York, 1994, pp. 216-217, no. 92, where the author notes that the butterfly and flower motifs suggest the wish that the recipient of the bottle receive the highest standing in the Imperial examinations. For further discussion of this group, see Ma Zengshan, Inside-painted Snuff Bottle Artist, Ma Shaoxuan, Baltimore, 1997, p. 30, fig. 4 and p. 133, fig. 100.
Another bottle with the ba-po to one side and a calligraphic excerpt from the lan tingxu (ode to The Orchid Pavilion) to the other, see Sotheby's, New York, 17 March 1997, lot 460; and another illustrated by Wang Xuan, Zhong guo bi yan hu, Zhen Shang, Beijing, 1995, no. 336
The Ba-Po include a fan painting after Shima Zhong, a circular fan painting by Zhu Da, a Tang rubbing, another Tang rubbing by O'yang Xun and a calligraphy by Pan Zuyin.
For an identical bottle dated to the following year, 1896, see Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far from the World, New York, 1994, pp. 216-217, no. 92, where the author notes that the butterfly and flower motifs suggest the wish that the recipient of the bottle receive the highest standing in the Imperial examinations. For further discussion of this group, see Ma Zengshan, Inside-painted Snuff Bottle Artist, Ma Shaoxuan, Baltimore, 1997, p. 30, fig. 4 and p. 133, fig. 100.
Another bottle with the ba-po to one side and a calligraphic excerpt from the lan tingxu (ode to The Orchid Pavilion) to the other, see Sotheby's, New York, 17 March 1997, lot 460; and another illustrated by Wang Xuan, Zhong guo bi yan hu, Zhen Shang, Beijing, 1995, no. 336