A FINELY CARVED CHALCEDONY SNUFF BOTTLE

細節

A FINELY CARVED CHALCEDONY SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1750-1800

Of flattened baluster shape, very well hollowed and carved on each side with two archaistic confronting kui dragons, together forming the characters, xuangxi, 'double happiness', the shoulders with mask and ring handles, the neck with a pendant ruyi band and the base encircled by lotus petals, stopper
2 1/4 in. (5.8 cm.) high

來源

Arthur Gadsby, Hong Kong, 1978

出版

Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, no. 495
Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong Museum of Art, p. 97, no. 70
100 Selected Chinese Snuff Bottles from the J & J Collection, no. 70
Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. 1, no. 165
The Miniature World - An Exhibition of Sniff Bottles from the J & J Collection, Taipei, p. 49

展覽

Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1977
Christie's London, October 1987
Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1996-1997
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997
Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2001 - 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002
International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003
Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 2003

拍品專文

The character xuangxi which means 'double happiness' is an expression for wedded bliss, and thus, suggests that this bottle may have been intended as a wedding gift. The bottle belongs to the group of superbly hollowed chalcedony snuff bottles characterised by the use of flawless semi-transparent material, high-quality low-relief carving and archaistic designs. Several bottles of the group bear Qianlong marks and the subject matter and style are based upon Qianlong Imperial taste. Two types of design predominate: archaistic patterns, such as on this example, and inscriptions, often disposed in the panels of fluted, tapering cylindrical shape, such as that from the J & J Collection, illustrated by Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 164.