Born in Schweinfurt, Germany, Hildegard Schonfeld (1923-2000) came to the United States in 1936 on the famous Kinder Transport, a rescue effort which brought German Jewish children to safety in England and America. Her parents followed a few years later. In 1947 she wed Sidney and the family settled in Tenafly, New Jersey, where the Schonfelds were active philanthropists, devoting much attention to local causes and Jewish charities. Hilde developed a passion for Asian art on her many trips to Japan with Sidney. In 1973, on a fateful trip to San Francisco, they wandered into an antique shop where Hilde's eyes were attracted to two small bottles and her new interest was piqued enough to attend a snuff bottle auction soon after. Thus began her collecting journey with her husband Sidney. Hilde dedicated much time to refining and educating her eye, befriending dealers and scholars and absorbing all the available material on the subject. She kept impeccable records on each of her purchases, citing its provenance, related examples and including any later correspondence regarding a particular bottle. As Hilde's collection grew, so did her comraderie with the snuff bottle collecting community, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She joined the Chinese Snuff Bottle Society of America and the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, traveling all over the world with Sidney to attend conventions, auctions, exhibitions and to visit private collections. Hilde was particularly honored when selections of bottles from her collection appeared on the covers of the winter editions of the Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society in 1996 and 1997. Her personal favorite in the collection, the sandwiched pink glass 'lotus' bottle (lot 1097), was prominently featured in the first group. Another of Hilde's favorites, the rare hexagonal Yixing bottle painted in slip with a landscape scene (lot 1102), appeared with the second group in 1997. When Hilde passed away in 2000, Sidney could not part with her beautiful collection; each bottle represented a memory of their travels and life together. After Sidney's death in 2010, the Schonfeld's two children, Gary and Victoria, decided to present the collection to the public, with the hope that each bottle would bring the same excitement to a new or a seasoned collector that it did to their mother. They fondly remember the wonderful stories that their parents shared of their collecting with friends, and express great gratitude to Hugh Moss for his friendship with their mother, his generous guidance and for cherishing Hilde's memory. It is with a sense of loss but also with great pride that they present The Hildegard Schonfeld Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles.

1730-1800年御製透明寶石紅料磨花八角鼻煙壺

IMPERIAL GLASSWORKS, BEIJING, 1730-1800

細節

1730-1800年御製透明寶石紅料磨花八角鼻煙壺

來源

Bob Stevens Collection (Part I); Sotheby Parke Bernet Honolulu, 7 November 1981, lot 2.
Christie's New York, 22 September 1987, lot 210.

展覽

Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Bob C. Stevens Collection, Mikimoto Hall, Tokyo, October 1978, p. 13, col. pl. 3.

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拍品專文

This bottle is a superb example of a small, faceted type produced from the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) onwards at the Imperial Glassworks in Beijing. While faceted forms of Near Eastern metalwork were copied in porcelain by the Chinese as early as the 15th century, the technique of faceting glass gained popularity at the Imperial Glassworks in the Kangxi period. It was promoted by Kilian Stumpf, director of the glassworks from its inception until his death in 1720, who also borrowed from Bavarian glassmaking techniques. Bottles in this group are carved with the four faceted shapes meeting at a point on each side as on this bottle, or with raised oval panels or flat, dished panels. It was one of the most popular forms of imperial bottles to be distributed as gifts. The present shape was produced in a range of colors, and rarely with a reign mark (see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 5, Part 3, Glass, Hong Kong, 2002, pp. 302-3, no. 804, for a similar ruby-red glass bottle with Yongzheng four-character mark and p. 304, no. 805, for a ruby-red bottle with no mark. See, also, pp. 306-15 for versions in opaque yellow, imitation-realgar, transparent blue with aventurine, opague blue-green and transparent turquoise (with Daoguang mark)). Another ruby-red example from the Blanche B. Exstein Collection was sold in these rooms, 21 March 2002, lot 6.

After perfecting faceting in glass, the method was soon applied to other popular materials at the Court, including jade and quartz. An Imperial white jade snuff bottle of this shape was sold in these rooms, 24-25 March 2011, lot 1559. Another, a rare faceted agate bottle from the Blanche B. Exstein Collection, was sold in these rooms, 21 March 2002, lot 128.

IMPERIAL GLASSWORKS, BEIJING, 1730-1800

拍品專文

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