.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This superbly elegant white jade snuff bottle is very well hollowed and carved overall with a design of a dragon emitting a stream of vapor from its mouth above a smaller chi dragon, both enveloped in a dense sea of clouds. The stone is finished with an even, satiny polish.
The understated carving is only fully understood when handled and under close inspection. The spirals of the clouds form a subtle yet dense ground through which the sinuous bodies of the dragons meander. This extraordinary design was captured in the accompanying watercolor by British artist Malcolm Golding. Golding worked for Hugh M. Moss Ltd. in London in the 1970s and painted a number of reproductions of bottles that passed through the hands of the company during that time, several of which are in the J & J Collection. Painted in 1970 or 1971, this watercolor served as the endpapers for Hugh Moss’ Snuff Bottles of China, London, 1971.
The understated carving is only fully understood when handled and under close inspection. The spirals of the clouds form a subtle yet dense ground through which the sinuous bodies of the dragons meander. This extraordinary design was captured in the accompanying watercolor by British artist Malcolm Golding. Golding worked for Hugh M. Moss Ltd. in London in the 1970s and painted a number of reproductions of bottles that passed through the hands of the company during that time, several of which are in the J & J Collection. Painted in 1970 or 1971, this watercolor served as the endpapers for Hugh Moss’ Snuff Bottles of China, London, 1971.