A RARE AND FINELY CARVED RED JADEITE BOTTLE

1790-1860

Details

A RARE AND FINELY CARVED RED JADEITE BOTTLE
1790-1860
Of tapered cylindrical form, the pale green stone enhanced with a bright russet inclusion finely carved in low relief with Shoulao holding a fan beneath a swirling mass of cloud scrolls encircling the neck, stopper
2 5/8in. (6.6cm.) high

Provenance

Sotheby's, New York, Fine and Imperial Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens, Part II, 26 March 1982, lot 126.

Literature

B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, p. 188, no. 405.

Lot Essay

Zhong Kui, the Demon Queller, upon being denied first place in the examinations, committed suicide, becoming an immortal worshipped by travelers as a protector against evil spirits who haunt roads.

This magnificent bottle from the Stevens Collection is one of a small but extremely well carved group of cameo bottles where the brilliant red of the material is used to considerable advantage.

The artist who made this bottle also worked in more conventional material, including jade. For one of his jade bottles, carved with the same theme, see B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 387, where the figure is portrayed in exactly the same manner, with a distinctive fan-shaped beard.

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