Bottle ID: 158

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SILHOUETTE, ACROBAT

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 64 mm

Agate, very well hollowed, of bulbous ovoid form with a neatly carved footrim and with a slightly concave mouth, the honey colored stone with dark brown inclusions, minimally polished  to depict on one side a dragon flying through the clouds in pursuit of a flaming pearl, the reverse with a bat swooping in the clouds, or perhaps an acrobat standing on his hands.

Similar Examples:

Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle - The J & J Collection, 1993, Vol. I, p. 203, no. 118.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 1998, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 248-249, no. 272.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, April 29th, 1992, lot 526
David Dunkerley

This silhouette agate bottle has very distinctive darker markings which suggest that one side shows an acrobat standing on his hands. The beauty of these bottles is however, that, the very same inclusions may viewed as a bat swooping in the clouds. The reverse leaves us in little doubt though, that the inclusions depict a flying dragon, a favored subject on any bottle.

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