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Bottle ID: 425
INSCRIBED, WITH DISTINCT COLOR BAND
Date: 1750-1820
Height: 56 mm
Serpentine, of square shape with rounded shoulders, the rare stone with three distinct bands of color, honey and moss green, divided by a narrower amber-red band, and carved in low relief, on one side and extending around the shoulders with a dragon amidst swirling clouds; the reverse inscribed with a four-character inscription Lingyu cangsheng translated as 'All the common folk shall be blessed with sweet timely rain'.
Possibly imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops.
Similar Examples:
Stevens, Bob C. The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, 1976, pp. 114-115, no. 376.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 1995, Vol. 1, pp. 300-301, no. 121.
Hall, Robert. Chinese Suff Bottles XIII, 2008, no. 73.
Provenance:
Clare L.awrence Ltd.
Christie's, South Kensington, October 4, 1999, lot 128
Gerry P. Mack
Published:
JICSBS, Winter 1999, p. 36, fig. 6
It is highly unusual to find such imperial quality workmanship on a stone that would have generally been considered a secondary material. One can only imagine that the delightful and most unusual markings on this stone appealed enough to both the craftsman and patron to warrant the finest attention. The shallow carving to one side can be compared to that of bats amidst clouds on a russet and green jadeite bottle formerly in the Bob C. Stevens Collection, illustrated by Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far from the World, New York, 1994, pp. 114-115, no. 44. There are no similar examples to be found in serpentine, implying that a small workshop specialized in carving in one particular style on different materials, such as nephrite (shown in both the Bloch and Hall examples). The inscription was a well known proverb describing the beneficent administration of a compassionate and upright court official, giving us clues to the original owner of this unique bottle.
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