Bottle ID: 434

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CREAMY WHITE, RUSSET

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 57 mm

Carnelian, very well hollowed, of flattened squared form with rounded shoulders, and with a neatly carved footrim, the stone with translucent rich orange banding on one side, the reverse of an opaque mottled creamy white color.

Similar Examples:

Lawrence, Clare. Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom - The Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1996, pp. 76-77, no. 32.191.
Hughes, Michael C. The Blair Bequest - Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum, 2002, p. 46, no. 13.

Provenance:

Private Collection, Buffalo, New York, 2000

This is a very unusual example of carnelian and as such the material may not have come from the same source as the more usual bright orange, highly polished stone that one has come to think of when looking at snuff bottles. At first glance the material seems to be a softer stone such as albite, similar to the example quoted from the Blair Bequest. However, it resists scratching and appears in other respects to share the same characteristics as agate or carnelian. That aside, the aesthetic value of this bottle is its most appealing feature with the contrast of the natural vivid orange banding on one side and the creamy white stone on the other.

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