Bottle ID: 301

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ROUNDED WITH FLUTED PANELS

Date: 1750-1820

Height: 52 mm

Bowenite, very well hollowed, of flattened spade shape with shoulders sloping to a cylindrical neck with a slightly everted mouth and with a concave oval foot, the creamy pale brown stone carved with vertical concave fluted panels continuously around the bottle.

 

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 429
Holden, Rachelle R. Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, 1994, pp. 66-67. no. 20.
Moss, Hugh M. Snuff Bottles of China, 1971, pp. 70-71, no. 24.
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, May 3, 1995, lot 558, A Private Canadian Collection.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
The Kenneth Hark Collection, Florida

Bowenite is a harder variety of serpentine, which was mined domestically during the snuff bottle period in the Suzhou region. The material ranges in color from dark forest green through to olive green and yellowish-white. Bowenite almost always occurs in small deposits. The National Museum of China houses the largest known bowenite artifact in the world - a carving approximately 14" in size. Bowenite is often mistaken for nephrite, and whilst there are a number of bottles carved with a similar design in jade, none were found in bowenite, although intriguingly the Holden example is made from aragonite.

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