PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, 1750-1800

細節

**A VERY RARE CARVED GREYISH-GREEN JADE SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, 1750-1800
The bottle carved in the form of two Central Asian figures, both shown with shaven patches in the middle of their pates and wearing loose coats and long boots, flanking and holding a large vase of compressed ovoid form with a flared neck, the stone with some brown inner skin, the dark coloring emphasizing the hair and backs of the two figures, coral stopper with gilt-bronze collar
2 1/16 in. (5.2 cm.) high

來源

Grace Nicholson, Pasadena, California (no. 11B)
Henry and Florence Lang, Montclair, New Jersey, 1933
The Montclair Art Museum, 1943 (Accession no. 43.102, 1943)
Sotheby's New York, 23 September 1995, lot 79
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd.

出版

Schuyler V.R. Cammann, Miniature Art From Old China. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Montclair Art Museum Collections, no. 212
Miller's Antiques Price Guide, 1997, p. 547

展覽

Christie's, Los Angeles 2003

注意事項

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

拍品專文

When Schuyler V. R. Camman published this bottle, he identified the figures holding the vase as children - but these are not children. These figures are intended to represent foreign 'barbarians' and are in Central Asian dress. Their hair is long and they have a shaven central pate. They depict the typical foreigner who came to China via the Silk Road from Central Asia. From the Yuan dynasty onwards, there are a number of images of foreigners bringing tribute to all-powerful China, and during the Ming dynasty, bronze vases (including those used for the game of throwing arrows into a vase) and bronze vessels for incense are often supported by two figures of this type. Paintings also show lengthy processions of tribute-bearers bringing all sorts of gifts to the Court, including vases. The symbolism here rests in a pun on the character for 'vase' (ping) which sounds the same as that for 'peace' (ping), and suggests that by accepting their tributary status as lesser nations under the protection of China, they carry peace as an offering to the Court.

There are other snuff bottles known of this general design, although they are very rare. It is also likely that they were made for the Court, for several reasons. This design, for obvious reasons, was popular at the Court, and occurs across a wide range of arts - many Imperial cloisonni enamel pieces, for instance, have tribute-bearers supporting them, as do bronze vessels. The vase-form of this bottle, based on popular meiping ('prunus-blossom vase') form, is also one of the more common Imperial forms for jade snuff bottles. Finally, this bottle is designed to be set on a table or desk rather than carried around - a phenomenon suited to Imperial life at Court, where useful objects were produced in vast numbers so that every room could be fitted to accommodate its role without having to move objects about from one place to another.