A FINELY CARVED SUZHOU AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE

Details

A FINELY CARVED SUZHOU AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
QING DYNASTY, 1760-1850

Of flattened form resting on a small recessed oval foot, well hollowed and finely carved utilising the opaque beige and dark inclusions to highlight the carving, on one side with a white horse exhaling a cloud supporting a yinyang symbol, watched by a black monkey in a rocky grotto, the reverse with an inscription on the shoulder ending the the seal wen wan, 'For scholar's pleasure', stopper
2 3/16 in. (5.5 cm.) high

Literature

Sotheby's Hong Kong, Thirty Years, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 461

Lot Essay

Previously sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 1996, lot 1141.

The couplet may be translated as:
The breath suspending agreeably,
to benefit the everlasting dweller.

Both horses and monkeys were popular subject-matters on snuff bottles. The monkey, hou, is a homonym for the word 'marquis', the second highest grade among the nobility, and represents the aspiration for a corresponding rise in rank. The combination of the monkey and a horse forms the rebus ma shang feng hou, expressing a wish for speedy promotion to the status of an official.

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