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Lot Essay
The poem reads:
"Let's establish the habit of vapour intaking,
And be nurtured by nature's essence [stored] in the bottle.
Its properties are akin to ginger and cinnamon,
Capable of dispelling the pungent smell of the dried fish market."
The sealmark Kuisheng is identified as the alternative given name of Lu Dong (? - 1850), who was a celebrated maker of lacquer, embellished lacquer and sand-lacquer inkstones in Yangzhou; cf. Zhongguo meishujia renmin cidian, 'Dictionary of Chinese Artist Names', Shanghai renmen meishu chubanshe, 1985, p. 1406. Lu was one of the rare craftsmen who was able to transcend the social barriers imposed by his upbringing and be taken seriously by the literati as an artist, and he was one of the very few to find a place in the literature of the scholar class. For further information about Lu Dong and his works, including his famous inkstones, inkstone boxes and another snuff bottle, see Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong Museum of Art, nos. 63, 64, 85 (a snuff bottle), 149, 216 and 217. Snuff bottles by Lu Dong are extremely rare. This bottle simply bears the signature of Kuisheng in his usual seal script within a rectangular cartouche, a signature he apparently used on pieces he had made entirely by himself, as opposed to those involving workshop assistants.
"Let's establish the habit of vapour intaking,
And be nurtured by nature's essence [stored] in the bottle.
Its properties are akin to ginger and cinnamon,
Capable of dispelling the pungent smell of the dried fish market."
The sealmark Kuisheng is identified as the alternative given name of Lu Dong (? - 1850), who was a celebrated maker of lacquer, embellished lacquer and sand-lacquer inkstones in Yangzhou; cf. Zhongguo meishujia renmin cidian, 'Dictionary of Chinese Artist Names', Shanghai renmen meishu chubanshe, 1985, p. 1406. Lu was one of the rare craftsmen who was able to transcend the social barriers imposed by his upbringing and be taken seriously by the literati as an artist, and he was one of the very few to find a place in the literature of the scholar class. For further information about Lu Dong and his works, including his famous inkstones, inkstone boxes and another snuff bottle, see Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong Museum of Art, nos. 63, 64, 85 (a snuff bottle), 149, 216 and 217. Snuff bottles by Lu Dong are extremely rare. This bottle simply bears the signature of Kuisheng in his usual seal script within a rectangular cartouche, a signature he apparently used on pieces he had made entirely by himself, as opposed to those involving workshop assistants.