Bottle ID: 0098

< Previous page

SILHOUETTE, PAIR OF DUCKS

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 61 mm

 

Agate, very well hollowed, of flattened squared form with rounded sloping shoulders and with an oval indented foot, of pale gray and honey tones with dark brown inclusions, minimally polished on one side to depict a pair of ducks one pecking at the ground, the other with its head raised, the reverse left uncarved.

 

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. 209, no. 123.
Hughes, Michael C. The Blair Bequest - Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum, 2002, p. 73, no. 59.
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. 254-255, no. 274.

 

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
The Thewlis Collection
Mrs. Ian Wasserman, London, England

 

 

Published:
 

Lawrence, Clare. The Thewlis Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1990, p. 12, no. 5
Moss, Hugh M. Chinese Snuff Bottles of the Silica or Quartz Group, 1971, p. 36, no. 80

 

 

Ducks and geese were a popular subject matter among the makers of silhouette agate snuff bottles. This is one of the better examples of its type as the carver has been able to achieve the maximum effect with little polishing. As the duck in the background pecks in the earth, the one in the foreground appears to be looking back with its beak open and its tail in the air. Animals are often depicted in pairs on snuff bottles, and ducks are no exception, being symbolic of marital harmony and fidelity.

 

< Back to full list