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Lot Essay
The poem reads Xiang wen biguan Chong dong meishao, which may be translated, 'Fragrance inhaled through the nose, happiness moves his eybrows.' The verse refers to the pleasure of taking snuff.
This is one of the finest of a group of black and white jade bottles from the Zhiting School at Suzhou, and is unusual in that the inscription is carved in relief rather than incised. For examples in the Mary and George Bolch Collection, and references to still more, see H. Moss, V. Graham, K.B. Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Hong Kong, 1995, vol. 1, Jade, nos. 126 - 131, where no. 128 is probably by the same hand. It is one of the rare examples in which a double overlay is allowed with a white layer between black layers, providing a spectacular canvas for this imaginative carver.
For two more Zhiting School black and white jade examples, the second by the same hand as the present bottle, see G. Tsang and H. Moss, Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, p. 100, nos. 160 and 162. For yet two more black and white jade bottles from the same school, the latter probably carved by the same hand, see L. S. Perry, Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Adventures and Studies of a Collector, Rutland, Vermont, 1960, p. 104, nos. 85 and 87. Three more black and white jade bottles from the same school are illustrated by R. Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Denis Low, Singapore, 1999, nos. 42-44. See, also, another small black and white example probably by the same hand, from the McReynolds Collection, by B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 447.
This is one of the finest of a group of black and white jade bottles from the Zhiting School at Suzhou, and is unusual in that the inscription is carved in relief rather than incised. For examples in the Mary and George Bolch Collection, and references to still more, see H. Moss, V. Graham, K.B. Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Hong Kong, 1995, vol. 1, Jade, nos. 126 - 131, where no. 128 is probably by the same hand. It is one of the rare examples in which a double overlay is allowed with a white layer between black layers, providing a spectacular canvas for this imaginative carver.
For two more Zhiting School black and white jade examples, the second by the same hand as the present bottle, see G. Tsang and H. Moss, Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, p. 100, nos. 160 and 162. For yet two more black and white jade bottles from the same school, the latter probably carved by the same hand, see L. S. Perry, Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Adventures and Studies of a Collector, Rutland, Vermont, 1960, p. 104, nos. 85 and 87. Three more black and white jade bottles from the same school are illustrated by R. Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Denis Low, Singapore, 1999, nos. 42-44. See, also, another small black and white example probably by the same hand, from the McReynolds Collection, by B. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York, 1976, no. 447.