A RARE JASPER BOTTLE

1750-1850

Details

A RARE JASPER BOTTLE
1750-1850
Of large rounded square shape, one side carved through a honey skin in high relief with a coiling scaly dragon chasing a flaming pearl on a beige and gray ground, the other side carved through the rust-red stone in relief with a phoenix amidst peony sprays standing on rockwork, stopper
2.5/8in. (6.6cm.) high

Provenance

Bob C. Stevens Collection
Sotheby's, New York, 26 March 1982, lot 90

Literature

Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, Tokyo, 1976, pp. 138, no. 505
I.C.S.B.S., Journal, December, 1977, p. 36, fig. 1
Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World, Hong Kong, 1994, pp. 48-49, no. 13

Lot Essay

The dragon and the phoenix are the first two creatures among the four supernatural creatures, the third and fourth being the unicorn and the tortoise. The dragon presides over the northern auadrant of the heavens and the phoenix over the southern auadrant. The dragon was also representative of the Emperor and the Phoenix, the Empress.

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