Bottle ID: 35

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THUMBPRINT

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 44 mm

Agate and crystal, well hollowed, of small ovoid form with shoulders sloping to a straightened mouth and everted lip, and with a slightly concave foot, the stone carved to reveal alternating white and brown bands of agate and crystal encircling the front and reverse of the bottle to resemble a thumbprint design.

Similar Examples:

Lawrence, Clare. The Thewlis Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1990, p. 16, no. 14.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle - The J & J Collection, 1993, Vol. I, p. 197, no. 114.
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, October 30, 1990, lot 81, The Kaynes-Klitz Collection, Part II.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.

The term fire agate is used by gemologists and refers to, what snuff bottle collectors call, thumbprint agate; it is agate with limonite inclusions which cause the stone to be iridescent. How did the carver of this small, but perfectly carved, bottle know that within the stone would be concealed a hub of agate which can so enchant with its natural design suggestive of a thumbprint?

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