Bottle ID: 171

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PUDDINGSTONE

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 55 mm

Puddingstone, well hollowed, of rounded bulbous form, with a straight cylindrical neck and flat oval foot, the stone with irregular splashes of ochre and brown within a gray matrix.

Similar Examples:

Lawrence, Clare. Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom - The Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1996, pp. 106-107, no. 47.201.
Low, Denis S. K. More Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, 2002, p. 265, no. 244.
Perry, Lilla S. Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Adventures & Studies of a Collector, 1960, p. 65, no. 48.
Sotheby's, New York, September 14, 2010, lot 153, The Joe Grimberg Collection.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Galerie Asboth, Vienna, Austria
Johanna Krug Collection

Published:

Krug, Johanna. Prisen aus kleinen Tabakflaschen, 1967, p. 48, no. 90

This type of stone is commonly known as 'puddingstone' for obvious reasons, but is in fact a quartz conglomerate consisting of irregular rounded pebbles of quartz embedded in a siliceous matrix. Puddingstone appears to have been imported into China in the Qing Dynasty as it is not found in the form of works of art or snuff bottles before this period. Western collectors have traditionally found Puddingstone bottles to be the most appealing when the irregular pebbles are of a larger size and contrast with the host matrix.

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