A WHITE JADE BOTTLE

1736-1795

Details

A WHITE JADE BOTTLE
1736-1795
Of flattened rounded shape, delicately carved in relief with the folding petals of a flowerhead, sometimes called the 'Keys of St. Peter', to each side dividing lion-mask fixed-ring handles, the stone of white tone with a few small pale honey inclusions, stopper
26in. (5.2cm.) high

Provenance

Robert Kleiner, London, 1992

Literature

Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World, Hong Kong, 1994, pp. 256-257, no. 112

Lot Essay

For a nearly identical bottle see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 234-237, no. 96, where the authors discuss the representation on this bottle. It had been argued by Emily Byrne Curtis ('Christian Motifs in Chinese Snuff Bottles,' Arts of Asia, Jan-Feb, 1982, p. 89) that the subject was the 'Keys of St. Peter', however Moss et al. op. cit., pp. 234-235, argue that the cross-like feature at the centre is no more than the negative space within lingzhi-head petals.

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