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Lot Essay
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.
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.