Lot Essay
For a group of snails with a similar Mingyuan seal see K. S. Lo, The Stonewares of Yixing from the Ming to the Present Day, p. 231, fig. 160. On p. 79 the author states, "Several outstanding potters appeared during this period (late Ming/early Qing), and one of them, Chen Mingyuan, ranks with the greatest of all Yixing potters." Lo continues, "Chen Mingyuan was born during the period of change (Ming to Qing)...and in many ways his work provides a link between the differing stylistic features of the Ming and Qing periods. He stands out by virtue of the quality of most of his work, which is exceptionally high, even judged by Ming standards. His skill and dexterity in making articles to simulate nature has remained legendary even to this day....Chen Mingyuan was undoubtedly the most versatile potter that Yixing ever produced. His work has been so highly regarded that many experts have ranked him second only to Shi Dabin. Indeed, Li Jingkang and Zhang Hong, as a mark of their veneration for his work, classify him among the Ming potters, immediately after his father, despite the fact that he lived during the early Qing period"
For two fruit groups by the same artist see Liang Baiquan, Yixing Purple Clay Ware, pp. 76-77, figs. 20-21
For a small waterdropper, pumpkin-shaped censer and brushrest by the same artist see Sotheby Parke Bernet, I-Hsing Wares, Property from a Private Collection, Hong Kong, May 24, 1978, lots 338, 339 and 340
See also Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, p. 427, no. 257, for a discussion of Yixing as a substance and patination as a major part of its appeal. The remarks about the patination on a bottle in the J & J Collection could easily be attributed to this example: "The patina on this bottle has a lovely textural dimension added to the plain, chocolate surface through a century or more of use. The mottled, darker brown markings of the patina, accumulated dirt worked on to the surface by the hand from which the glow of natural oils is added, immensely enhance the surface..."
For a discussion of the construction of such snail or conch-shaped bottles from a single sheet of leathery, malleable clay see Ibid., pp. 428-429, no. 258, where the authors illustrate a Daoguang example bearing the mark of the unrecorded Yixing potter Gao Jinyuan. Of later production, that example does not bear the same patination nor the slightly rougher appearance. The authors continue, "Of all Chinese ceramics, Yixing came the closest to being included in the high aesthetic of the influential minority. Because of its properties for brewing the finest tea, and because of the importance of tea and the tea ceremony amongst the influential minority...it became readily associated with the scholar class and its activities....By the 19th century the material itself had acquired a scholarly resonance, quite in keeping with its subdued and subtle range of colours and potential. It also acquired, probably more through association with its tea-making properties than on any scientific basis, the reputation for keeping snuff fresh and in peak condition. This reputation may have been a factor in the considerable output of Yixing snuff bottles during the nineteenth century"
For two fruit groups by the same artist see Liang Baiquan, Yixing Purple Clay Ware, pp. 76-77, figs. 20-21
For a small waterdropper, pumpkin-shaped censer and brushrest by the same artist see Sotheby Parke Bernet, I-Hsing Wares, Property from a Private Collection, Hong Kong, May 24, 1978, lots 338, 339 and 340
See also Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, p. 427, no. 257, for a discussion of Yixing as a substance and patination as a major part of its appeal. The remarks about the patination on a bottle in the J & J Collection could easily be attributed to this example: "The patina on this bottle has a lovely textural dimension added to the plain, chocolate surface through a century or more of use. The mottled, darker brown markings of the patina, accumulated dirt worked on to the surface by the hand from which the glow of natural oils is added, immensely enhance the surface..."
For a discussion of the construction of such snail or conch-shaped bottles from a single sheet of leathery, malleable clay see Ibid., pp. 428-429, no. 258, where the authors illustrate a Daoguang example bearing the mark of the unrecorded Yixing potter Gao Jinyuan. Of later production, that example does not bear the same patination nor the slightly rougher appearance. The authors continue, "Of all Chinese ceramics, Yixing came the closest to being included in the high aesthetic of the influential minority. Because of its properties for brewing the finest tea, and because of the importance of tea and the tea ceremony amongst the influential minority...it became readily associated with the scholar class and its activities....By the 19th century the material itself had acquired a scholarly resonance, quite in keeping with its subdued and subtle range of colours and potential. It also acquired, probably more through association with its tea-making properties than on any scientific basis, the reputation for keeping snuff fresh and in peak condition. This reputation may have been a factor in the considerable output of Yixing snuff bottles during the nineteenth century"