AN INCISED BAMBOO SNUFF BOTTLE
AN INCISED BAMBOO SNUFF BOTTLE

XINRU, 1800-1900

细节
AN INCISED BAMBOO SNUFF BOTTLE
XINRU, 1800-1900
Of flattened ovoid form with a recessed foot, each side inset with oval panels of bamboo veneer, one panel incised with a mountainous landscape with the rooftops of a country retreat just visible amidst the trees, the other panel with a poetic inscription in running script followed by the signature Xinru, original bamboo stopper and bamboo spoon
2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm.) high
来源
Gerry Mack (New York 1979)
出版
Chinese Snuff Bottles No. 3, p. 43, fig. 45
Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. 2, no. 269
Arts of Asia, November-December 1998, p. 77, fig. 14
展览
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, 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002
International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003
Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 2003

拍品专文

This bottle represents an important and intriguing development from the mid-Qing period onwards where scholars decorated their own snuff bottles if they were in suitably soft materials (or even in harder ones if they were skilled with lapidary tools). Bamboo containers were appreciated largely for their naturalness, although examples can vary considerably in the quality of the finish, in surface markings and intensity of color. The present bottle is in every respect a fine example, perfectly symmetrical and superbly made, and displays an unusual combination of golden brown bamboo veneer on the side panels and rich texture of the cortex (the outer wall of the bamboo plant) on the narrow sides.

The poetic inscription, written in a confident and elegant script, is from a poem entitled 'Spring Mountains in Moonlight' by Yu Liangshi (active ca. 756). Yu was a well-known poet of the Tang dynasty who served the Emperor Suzong as a censor. The poem may be loosely translated:

When the moon is reflected in the water, it seems so near that it can be grasped with both hands
When one handles flowers, one's garments are filled with their fragrance

The signature following the inscription, Xinru, is a hao or adopted art name, and the identity of the individual is as yet unknown.