**A FINE AND RARE ENGRAVED WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
Prospective purchasers are advised that several co… 顯示更多
**A FINE AND RARE ENGRAVED WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE

ZHOU HONGLAI, THE BASE INCISED IN SEAL SCRIPT XUEJIAO SHANFANG ('SNOWY PLANTAIN MOUTAIN RETREAT'), 1900

細節
**A FINE AND RARE ENGRAVED WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
ZHOU HONGLAI, THE BASE INCISED IN SEAL SCRIPT XUEJIAO SHANFANG ('SNOWY PLANTAIN MOUTAIN RETREAT'), 1900
Of rounded-rectangular form, finely incised on one side with a bird perched on a tree branch, the reverse with a lengthy poetic inscription by Li Bo (701-62), followed by 'Made at Quantang by Yanbin on a winter day of the gengzi year', the base incised with the seal Xuejiao Shanfang, 'Snowy Plantain Mountain Retreat', jadeite stopper
2 5/16 (5.85 cm.) high
來源
Julie and Al Stempel
Sotheby's New York, 11 October 1979, lot 23
Hugh M. Moss Ltd.
出版
Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1977, p. 38, no. 49 Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. 2, no. 406
展覽
Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1977
Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1996-97
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997
Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002
International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003
Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 2003
注意事項
Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

拍品專文

The prose text on the reverse was written by Li Bo (701-762) and is entitled 'Preface to Poems Composed at a Spring Evening Banquet Held at the Peach Garden':

'Heaven and earth provide lodging for all. Time is like a traveler in transit. Like a dream we live in a floating world. How often do we really feel happy? People of past ages used to carry torches about to engage in merrymaking in the night. How wise of them to do so! As Spring beckons us with misty scenery and the universe affords us pleasant views, now let us assemble here at the fragrant Peach Garden to enjoy each other's company. My intelligent younger colleagues are all as talented as [Xie] Huilian. As for me, I am ashamed that in poetry I can only be second to [Xie] Kangle. While still admiring [the garden] our convivial conversation gradually drifts to more cultivated topics. As we sit there among the blossoms feasting and swiftly passing along earcups [filled with wine], we [soon] get inebriated under the moon. [In this state of mind] how can one express his refined feeling if he does not produce some good compositions? Those who fail to compose poems will be compelled to imbibe three gallons of wine, a rule set by the Golden Valley Garden.'

Xie Huilian (397-433) was the younger clansman of the renowned Eastern Jin poet Xie Lingyun (385-433), whose literary skills were much admired by the latter. Xie Kangle is Xie Lingyun, a fourth/fifth century eccentric, Kangle being a feudal title which he had inherited. The Golden Valley Garden was the palatial residence of Shi Chong (249-300), located in Luoyang, Henan province. Wealthy artists or patrons threw parties known as yaji ('elegant gatherings') in the Garden, at which poetry competitions were frequent, the punishment for not coming up to scratch being to drink wine so as to loosen any inhibitions.

Zhou Honglai was among the finest of the artists who specialized in micro-engraving at the end of the Qing dynasty. Cf. a snuff bottle by Zhou, sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 25 April 2004, lot 868, from the J & J Collection. Although the Xuejiao Shanfang is not recorded, the bottle was most probably made specifically for the owner of the retreat.