Bottle ID: 180

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SILHOUETTE, MOUNTAINS

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 59 mm

Agate, very well hollowed, of rounded bulbous form with a neatly carved footrim, the honey colored stone with orange and dark brown circular bands depicting the silhouette of a robed monk seated in a cave in a landscape with massive rocks and clouds.

Similar Examples:

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. 222-225, no. 263.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle - The J & J Collection, 1993, Vol. I, p. 200, no. 116.
Sotheby's, New York, December 2, 1985, lot 75, Collection of Dr. Paula Hallett.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Sanuk Gallery, San Francisco

Agate comes under the grouping of Quartz and is specifically microcrystalline quartz whose composition is silicon dioxide. It has a hardness of 7 and a specific gravity of 2.6 - 2.7. This makes it slightly harder than jade, and softer than gemstones such as aquamarine, beryl, tourmaline, ruby and sapphire. The last two are relevant because their composition is conundrum, which is used as part of the grinding compound of the lapidary. Often what is loosely termed agate is, in fact, chalcedony and it is useful to differentiate between the two. The present example is a silhouette agate, a very well hollowed bottle in primarily two colors, where in this case the darker inclusions suggest an abstract design of massive rockwork, and towering peaks.

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