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THE STAN BARDEN COLLECTION OF SNUFF BOTTLES (LOTS 1082-1096 INCLUSIVE) Christie's is delighted to offer this 15-lot collection assembled by Stan Barden (1924-1988) and his wife Marianne from 1960 to 1981. Stan Barden was introduced to this diminutive art form by a snuff bottle collector in Singapore in 1952 after a game of badminton. But it was not until he was posted to Hong Kong in 1960 as a civil engineer for the Public Works Department that he began collecting.
As chance would have it, his next door neighbour was Michael Kaynes-Klitz, an avid snuff bottle collector who became a life-long friend.
Kaynes-Klitz - pictured in the photograph above in the centre with Stan on the left and a Chinese collector on the right - also founded the International Snuff Bottle Society in Hong Kong in 1968.
The South China Morning Post described him as "the spiritual leader of snuff bottle collecting". At its height, the society boasted 20,000 members worldwide. Stan was founder member number one and Marianne number 2.
Stan bought almost exclusively from the Hong Kong-based dealer Y.F.Yang who traded in Chunking Arcade and later in Ocean Terminal before moving to Honolulu in the 1980s.
He admired all types of snuff bottle but had the greatest affinity to agate bottles. Several agate bottles are offered here including lots 1088, 1090, 1091. Amongst the quirkier entries is the moulded ceramic bottle emblazoned with the Chinese and US flags, lot 1095. It was one of thirty commissioned in 1972 by the International Snuff Bottle Society to commemorate President Nixon's historic visit to China. In 1981, in recognition of work done by the Transport Survey Organisation for Hong Kong's mass transit system, the MTR, Stan Barden was awarded the Imperial Service Order, I.S.O. by the Queen.
AN INSIDE PAINTED AGATE BOTTLE
SIGNED WANG XISAN, DATED SPRING, BINGWU YEAR (1966)
Details
AN INSIDE PAINTED AGATE BOTTLE
SIGNED WANG XISAN, DATED SPRING, BINGWU YEAR (1966)
The bottle is of a rounded shape, and is painted with a continuous scene depicting a group of geese amongst branches of reed, the stone is of a greyish-beige tone.
3 in. (7.5 cm.) high
SIGNED WANG XISAN, DATED SPRING, BINGWU YEAR (1966)
The bottle is of a rounded shape, and is painted with a continuous scene depicting a group of geese amongst branches of reed, the stone is of a greyish-beige tone.
3 in. (7.5 cm.) high
Provenance
The Stan Barden Collection of Snuff Bottles.
Acquired in Hong Kong prior to 1981 from Y.F. Yang.
Acquired in Hong Kong prior to 1981 from Y.F. Yang.
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