SIGNED SHAOXIAN, DATED BINGZI (1936)

It is likely that Ma Shaoxian, the nephew of Ma Shaoxuan, worked with his uncle producing bottles to be sold with his uncle’s signature. One of the earliest bottles on which Shaoxian used his own signature is dated to 1899. Hugh Moss notes that he was already an accomplished painter by this point, indicating that he must have been working in the family workshops for some time (Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: the Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 4, Part 2, p. 490). Shaoxian used his own name sporadically on bottles from at least 1899 until 1932, when his uncle retired. At that point, free to explore his own style and capabilities, Shaoxian used his own signature.
The subject depicted on the current bottle is rarely seen. When signing his own works he usually employed his assumed name, Ma Shaoxian, although occasionally, on a few of his masterpieces, such as this bottle, he signed with both that and his given name, Ma Guoting. Moss notes that Shaoxian used his given name generally on his later works, “and never on anything less than masterly.” (ibid. p. 498).
Another Ma Shoaxian bottle from the same year, from The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part I, was sold at Christie's New York, 16 September 2015, lot 212.