Bottle ID: 773

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LACQUER ON WOOD, INLAID SILVER WIRE, CARP

Date: 1850-1900

Height: 75 mm

Lacquer on wood, of cylindrical form, with a waisted neck and everted mouth, the black lacquer inlaid with silver wires depicting a continuous scene of fan-tailed carp swimming in waves among aquatic waterweeds, below a key-fret band encircling the shoulders, the inset circular base also inlaid with silver wires forming an apocryphal Qianlong nianzhi mark.

Similar Examples:

Stevens, Bob C. The Collectors Book of Snuff Bottles, 1976, pp. 200-201, no.s 746 and 747
Moss, Hugh M. Snuff Bottles of China, 1971, pp. 132-133, no.s 323 and 325 (porcelain)

Provenance:

A. Klein, CA. and thence by descent.

 

Bob Stevens in his book illustrates two examples of black lacquer on wood which are inlaid with silver, and in one case also gold, wire. Both of these examples are the classic flattened, rectangular shape of this late Qing Dynasty group. Interestingly, they both give us some information about the group as both examples have the same inscription on one main side, created by the inlaid silver wires, and reading: 'made by Xiao Shan in the tenth month of the year 1895'. As with most dated bottles, the date is a cyclical date. However, given the unusual shape of the Crane example the accepted late nineteenth century date would seem the most likely, as the shape of the Crane bottle is very similar to that of late nineteenth century porcelain bottles.

 

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