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拍品專文
As the addictive habit of snuff-taking became more and more fashionable, increasingly elaborate and unusual bottles made of exotic materials were commissioned by elite users. One of the most beautiful of exotic materials used in the manufacture of snuff bottles was amber, the translucent fossilized resin of ancient trees. Three main varieties of amber were used: a reddish, more transparent amber imported mainly from Burma (of which the present bottles is an example); a yellow-toned amber associated with the Baltic coast; and 'root amber', a reddish transparent amber mottled with patches of opaque yellow.
This delightful bottle is among the finest in the range of animal-form bottles of which amber examples are very rare, the majority being of jade. For other amber animal-form bottles, see the bear-form example in the J & J Collection, illustrated in Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, vol. 2, no. 288; a pig-form bottle illustrated by R. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, no. 102; and two boar-form bottles, the first illustrated by B. C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, no. 467, and the second sold in these rooms, 3 December 1992, lot 376.
The well-hollowed interior of this charming bottle exhibits a fine network of crizzling, and this trait, like crizzling on glass, is considered a positive factor among collectors, demonstrating the natural effects of time on a delicate material. It is in fine condition for an early bottle in a material which is extremely vulnerable to the sort of use it would have been put through.
This delightful bottle is among the finest in the range of animal-form bottles of which amber examples are very rare, the majority being of jade. For other amber animal-form bottles, see the bear-form example in the J & J Collection, illustrated in Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, vol. 2, no. 288; a pig-form bottle illustrated by R. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, no. 102; and two boar-form bottles, the first illustrated by B. C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, no. 467, and the second sold in these rooms, 3 December 1992, lot 376.
The well-hollowed interior of this charming bottle exhibits a fine network of crizzling, and this trait, like crizzling on glass, is considered a positive factor among collectors, demonstrating the natural effects of time on a delicate material. It is in fine condition for an early bottle in a material which is extremely vulnerable to the sort of use it would have been put through.