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Lot Essay
The imagery of this bottle is very auspicious. The monkey is supposed to be peering at a wasp which is not visible on this snuff bottle. The construction of the rebus is producing the phrase dai fenghou (dai for the sack, feng for the wasp, hou for the monkey), "May generations of your family be ennobled as marquises".
Compare with two nephrite bottles from the J & J Collection carved with the same subject-matter, illustrated by Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese snuff bottle, New York, 1993, nos 16 and 17.
One of these snuff bottles (no 17.) decorated with the same subject matter was sold in our New York Rooms, J & J Collection of Snuff Bottles, part III, 29 March 2006, lot 8.
Compare with two nephrite bottles from the J & J Collection carved with the same subject-matter, illustrated by Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese snuff bottle, New York, 1993, nos 16 and 17.
One of these snuff bottles (no 17.) decorated with the same subject matter was sold in our New York Rooms, J & J Collection of Snuff Bottles, part III, 29 March 2006, lot 8.