1780-1850

Details

A CARVED AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
1780-1850
The bottle is finely carved through variously colored markings of the semi-transparent brownish-grey stone with a spider lowering itself towards rocks from a peach-laden branch on one side, while a long-tailed bird perches beside another peach borne on a branch on the reverse.
2 in. (5.1 cm.) high, glass stopper

Provenance

Asian Art Studio, Los Angeles, 2011.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 5219.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Lot Essay

The common word for spider is zhizhu. In Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 56, Terese Tse Bartholomew points out that the appearance of a spider indicates a happy event about to transpire, and that the name of the spider is a pun for "know" (zhi), making it a welcome sight to the viewer.

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