A WELL-CARVED AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
A WELL-CARVED AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
A WELL-CARVED AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
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This lot is offered without reserve.
A WELL-CARVED AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE

ZHITING SCHOOL, SUZHOU, 1750-1850

Details
A WELL-CARVED AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE
ZHITING SCHOOL, SUZHOU, 1750-1850
The bottle is carved in relief on one side using dark areas of the honey-colored stone with a robed figure holding a lantern and two recumbent goats looking on. The reverse is carved with two frolicking horses standing near a pine tree and lingzhi.
1 7/8 in. (4.7 cm.) high, carnelian stopper
Provenance
The Martin Schoen Collection.
Neal W. and Frances R. Hunter Collection; Sotheby's New York, 15 September 1998, lot 384.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2706.
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve.

Brought to you by

Andrew Lick
Andrew Lick

Lot Essay

The town of Suzhou, famous for its gardens and canals, was one of the main cultural centers in China, attracting painters, calligraphers, poets, musicians and other talented individuals. Their pursuits comprise the main subject matter of the group of acclaimed snuff bottles intricately carved from agate and jade.

Another carved agate bottle of similar shape and size from the Blanche B. Exstein Collection, was sold in these rooms, 21 March 2002, lot 188. For a series of related Zhiting School Suzhou agate bottles, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 2, Part 2, Quartz, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 504-547, no. 366-79.

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