Bottle ID: 215

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LIGHT GRAY, BOY AND LOTUS, BLACK RELIEF

Date: 1780-1860

Height: 67 mm

Nephrite, greenish-gray with variegated black and brown skin, of slightly irregular, ovoid form, with a flared neck and oval foot, carved on one side in relief with a boy, probably one of the Hehe twins, holding the stem of a lotus flower amongst giant lotus plants growing from the formalized waves of a pond, the back and one side carved in lower relief with two bats.

Similar Examples:

Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 1995, Vol. 1, pp. 138-141, no. 55.
Sotheby's, New York, March 17, 1997, lot 268, The Canadian Collection.
Moss, Hugh M. Chinese Snuff Bottles of the Silica or Quartz Group, 1971, p. 60, no. 156.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS New York, November 2013

Since the Hehe twins are usually shown with lotus and bats, and as boys looking very similar to this, it is likely that the subject matter here includes one of them.

The coloring of this material is unique, and particularly effective with the jet-black skin giving way to a russet brown color in places. This has been deliberately and brilliantly used to enhance the main subject. It is possible that the jet-black skin areas have been enhanced by staining, a common practice with later jades to simulate the highly valued pebble material of antiquity. The carving and finish are of the highest artistic standard, although the bottle cannot be attributed to any particular school at present. There were many jade carving centers around China (the Qianlong Emperor used eight after 1760 for the production of Imperial wares) of which only two were at the Palace, one at Suzhou and possibly one at Guangzhou, leaving four locations still to be found.

 

 

 

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