Bottle ID: 457

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CARVED, HORSE AND MONKEY

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 57 mm

Agate, very well hollowed, of honey tones with a golden brown inclusion, of flattened squared form with rounded shoulders, a slightly concave mouth and a neatly carved footrim, carved in relief on one side with a dappled horse with one raised hoof, tethered to a post which is carved with a lotus flower at the top, the reverse carved with a crouching monkey clutching a peach.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 357
Kleiner, Robert W. L. Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of John Ault, 1990, p. 43, no. 67.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 1998, Vol. 2, Part 2, pp. 328-331, no. 302 and pp. 332-333, no. 303.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle - The J & J Collection, 1993, Vol. I, p. 244, no. 151.
Sotheby's, New York, September 14, 2010, lot 52 , The Joe Grimberg Collection.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, October 30, 2000, lot 664
Guo'an Collection Inventory no. 285
Jade House, Hong Kong, September 29, 1978

Within the Chinese bureaucratic system of the Court, the snuff bottle was used socially and politically to curry favor, to gain audience to those in power, and to show appreciation for favors received. Those who had gained rank and prestige were able to show their superiority by dispensing snuff bottles as gifts to those beneath them. The snuff bottle with its symbolic subject matter provided the perfect vehicle with which to illustrate their magnanimity. Chinese art spoke to connoisseurs on many different levels of communication. At a fairly simple level was the idea of a rebus, which works as follows: the depiction of a monkey on the back of a horse with or without a wasp infers “may you be immediately appointed to a high ranking position” through the phrase Mashang fenghou. In most cases where there is a wasp depicted, it is shown on the right hand side of the horse, as indeed it is on this bottle. This bottle would have been perceived as the ideal gift for an aspiring official.

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