SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN, BEIJING, DATED WINTER IN THE DINGYOU YEAR (1897), BEIJING

Details

**AN UNUSUAL INSIDE-PAINTED CRYSTAL SNUFF BOTTLE
SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN, BEIJING, DATED WINTER IN THE DINGYOU YEAR (1897), BEIJING
Of flattened form with a slightly convex lip and concave oval foot, painted with ink and watercolors with a continuous scene of a rocky bank with various plants and insects above three fan-tailed goldfish swimming in a pond with aquatic plants, inscribed in formal draft script 'Made in a winter month in the year dingyou at the capital by Ye Zhongsan', with seal Huayin ('Painting seal'), mother-of-pearl stopper with glass collar
2 in. (5.44 cm.) high

Provenance

Christie's, New York, 3 November 1977, lot 302
Hugh M. Moss Ltd.

Literature

Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, Vol. 2, no. 433
The Art of Chinese Snuff Bottle, Poly Art Museum, p. 135

Exhibited

Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum für 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

Special notice

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.

Lot Essay

The painting on the interior of the bottle is another subject that Ye Zhongsan borrowed from Zhou Leyuan. The subject, with some variation, appears four times in bottles produced in 1893 (see H. Moss, "The Apricot Grove Studio", part 2, JICSBS, Autumn 1982, pp. 13-15, figs. 12, 13, 15a and 17), and again the following year (ibid., fig. 18a) and again in the year after (ibid., p. 16, figs. 20 and 21.

However, what distinguishes Ye's works from Zhou's is the former's more descriptive style, placing more emphasis on outlines and detail, which eventually evolved into the Ye family's highly decorative style.

More from Important Chinese Snuff Bottles From The J&J Collection, Part V

View All