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Lot Essay
This bottle is one of a distinctive group dated to the mid-Qing period that is made of white nephrite using only the natural russet-brown skin of the pebble as decoration. The raw material used for the bottles was cut from a fairly large boulder or pebble, since the curve of the boulder is surmised from the disposition of the russet skin.
The powerful abstract design that results from the combination of a white pebble with its own skin remains popular among connoisseurs. The skin on the present bottle has a sumptuous range of texture and color. See three very similar bottles; a pair from the collection of Edith Griswold, in L. Perry, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Adventures & Studies of a Collector, 1977, p. 106, nos. 88-89, and another in The Au Hang Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1993, p. 78, no. 98. Two similar bottles, formerly from the Meriem Collection, were sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 2007, lot 654 and 19 March 2008, lot 227.
The powerful abstract design that results from the combination of a white pebble with its own skin remains popular among connoisseurs. The skin on the present bottle has a sumptuous range of texture and color. See three very similar bottles; a pair from the collection of Edith Griswold, in L. Perry, Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Adventures & Studies of a Collector, 1977, p. 106, nos. 88-89, and another in The Au Hang Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1993, p. 78, no. 98. Two similar bottles, formerly from the Meriem Collection, were sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 2007, lot 654 and 19 March 2008, lot 227.