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Lot Essay
Two bottles from the collection of Mary and George Bloch bearing the same Yitang mark are illustrated by H. Moss, V. Graham, K.B. Tsang, A Treasury of Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 1, Jade, Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 380-3, nos. 146 and 147. Another bottle bearing this mark, from the J & J Collection, was sold at Christie's New York, 30 March 2005, lot 80, and another one from the collection of Dr. Richard David at Christie's New York, 24-25 March 2011, lot 1563.
Yitang is an alternate name of Nayancheng (1763-1833), who was a poet, calligrapher and statesman with a long and varied career. See Arthur W. Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, Washington D.C., 1943, vol. 1, pp. 584-7, where Yitang is listed as a hao, or assumed artistic name. Nayancheng was a Manchu and a member of the Plain White Banner. His appointments include those of sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat during the late 18th/early 19th century, and a number of military and legal positions and governor-generalships in Guangzhou, Kharashar, Yarkand and Kashgar. His time spent in the Western regions would have put him in contact with the nephrite trade, and as such, it is not surprising that as a snuff-taker, he would have had snuff bottles made from jade and inscribed with his name.
Yitang is an alternate name of Nayancheng (1763-1833), who was a poet, calligrapher and statesman with a long and varied career. See Arthur W. Hummel, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, Washington D.C., 1943, vol. 1, pp. 584-7, where Yitang is listed as a hao, or assumed artistic name. Nayancheng was a Manchu and a member of the Plain White Banner. His appointments include those of sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat during the late 18th/early 19th century, and a number of military and legal positions and governor-generalships in Guangzhou, Kharashar, Yarkand and Kashgar. His time spent in the Western regions would have put him in contact with the nephrite trade, and as such, it is not surprising that as a snuff-taker, he would have had snuff bottles made from jade and inscribed with his name.