Bottle ID: 226

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"DRAGON IN THE WAVES"

Date: 1750-1860

Height: 62 mm

Agate, well hollowed, of flattened rounded form, the gray stone with mottled dark brown inclusions and carved on one side with a scholar holding a fruit in his hand, in a  mountainous landscape observing a horse, beside a bird perched upon a rock with a rod in its beak, the reverse with massive rockwork from which a gnarled pine tree grows overhanging the water, a raised inscription in the center reading: "the river water catches the wind and is transformed into a white dragon" followed by the seals wen wan (educated delight).

Attributed to the Suzhou School.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 136
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle - The J & J Collection, 1993, Vol. I, pp. 218-219, no. 131.
Holden, Rachelle, R. Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection,1994, pp. 308-309, no. 136.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.

This bottle is produced from an unusual piece of stone for this group with the white areas in this stone being closer to crystal than chalcedony, although both are part of the Quartz family. Although this occurs naturally in the rock, it is rare in Suzhou carving, perhaps having subsequently inspired the carver to use the inscription, which refers to the wind creating frothy whitecaps, which then become a dragon in the imagination of the literati.The carving and use of color are typically fine for the Suzhou school and most likely from the second half of the eighteenth century. The seal wen wan occurs rarely, and on bottles from different schools, not just the Suzhou School. This suggests that the bottles may have been made for one scholarly collector, since they could not all have come form the same workshop, being of different styles of carving.

 

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