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Lot Essay
As the addictive habit of snuff-taking became more and more fashionable, increasingly elaborate and unusual bottles made of exotic materials were commissioned by elite users. One of the most beautiful of exotic materials used in the manufacture of snuff bottles was amber, the translucent fossilized resin of ancient trees. Three main varieties of amber were used: a reddish transparent amber imported mainly from Burma (of which the present bottle is an example); a yellow-toned amber associated with the Baltic coast; and 'root amber', a reddish transparent amber mottled with patches of opaque yellow.
The subject, Liu Hai with his three-legged toad and a string of cash, conveys a wish for prosperity. Molded porcelain versions of the subject from the late 18th and 19th century were likely copied from examples made from other materials, such as this amber example, and ones in hardstone and ivory. The shape of the present bottle seems to have taken shape from an irregularly formed pebble-like piece of amber, which was organically carved to conform to the material.
A small group of animal-form amber snuff bottles also exists, and include one of squirrel-form formerly in the J & J Collection, illustrated by H. Moss et al. in The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. II, New York, 1993, pp. 485-87, no. 287 (subsequently sold at Christie’s New York, 29 March 2006, lot 3) and another of bear-form illustrated ibid, p. 488, no. 288, both now in The Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection of Snuff Bottles, no. 32.4.73 and no. 32.4.89). Others include a pig-form bottle illustrated by R. Kleiner in Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, p. 59, no. 102, and two boar-form bottles, the first illustrated by B. C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and London, 1976, no. 467, and the second sold at Christie’s New York, 3 December 1992, lot 376.
The subject, Liu Hai with his three-legged toad and a string of cash, conveys a wish for prosperity. Molded porcelain versions of the subject from the late 18th and 19th century were likely copied from examples made from other materials, such as this amber example, and ones in hardstone and ivory. The shape of the present bottle seems to have taken shape from an irregularly formed pebble-like piece of amber, which was organically carved to conform to the material.
A small group of animal-form amber snuff bottles also exists, and include one of squirrel-form formerly in the J & J Collection, illustrated by H. Moss et al. in The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. II, New York, 1993, pp. 485-87, no. 287 (subsequently sold at Christie’s New York, 29 March 2006, lot 3) and another of bear-form illustrated ibid, p. 488, no. 288, both now in The Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection of Snuff Bottles, no. 32.4.73 and no. 32.4.89). Others include a pig-form bottle illustrated by R. Kleiner in Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, p. 59, no. 102, and two boar-form bottles, the first illustrated by B. C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and London, 1976, no. 467, and the second sold at Christie’s New York, 3 December 1992, lot 376.