CIRCA 1800 AND LATER

Details

SEVEN VARIOUS SNUFF BOTTLES
CIRCA 1800 AND LATER
Comprising a bamboo bottle carved in the form of a melon, the fluted sides enveloped by a gnarled stalk with leaves, tendrils and a smaller fruit; a bronze snuff bottle of flattened form incised with coiled dragons pursuing flaming pearls amidst clouds, the foot incised with an apocryphal mark in regular script, Shunzhi liunian Cheng Rongzhang zhi (Made in the sixth year of the Shunzhi period by Cheng Rongzhang); a wood bottle of flattened oval shape, finely incised with a landscape scene to one side, inscription to the other; a simulated tortoiseshell bottle; and three further snuff bottles
The first 1 7/8 in. (4.9 cm.) high (7)

Provenance

The third bottle offered in Sotheby's New York, 22 March 2001, lot 258.

Exhibited

The first bottle: Hidden Treasures of the Dragon, Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 19 December 1991 - 27 January 1992, catalogue no. 142.

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. VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

The second bottle is part of a group of incised bronze or brass bottles made by an artist who signed himself Cheng Rongzhang. They are mostly inscribed with apocryphal dates ranging from 1644 to 1653, the first decade of the reign of the Shunzhi emperor. For a similar bottle, see The Meriem Collection, Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part II, Christie's New York, 19 March 2008, lot 238.

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