Bottle ID: 363

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SAGE WITH WHITE FAN

Date: 1780-1820

Height: 48 mm

Chalcedony, of small rectangular squared form, standing on a neatly carved indented footrim, carved in relief on one side using the darker inclusions with a sage holding a small white fan, seated on a terrace overlooking a lotus pond with his attendant leaning over the balustrade observing floating lotus leaves and flowers surrounded by rockwork, underneath pine trees and scrolling clouds; the reverse carved using the dark inclusions with a seven character inscription in regular script reading: "where on the pond no wind stirs lotuses, it's comfortable as spring-time" and with two seals wen wan (refined enjoyment), flanked by rockwork and scrolling clouds.

Attributed to the Suzhou School.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection nos. 70, 243 and 341
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 1998, Vol. 2, Part 2, pp. 531-535, no. 374 and pp. 538-539, no. 377.
Kleiner, Robert. Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect. Chinese Sunff Bottles from the Collection of Denis Low, 1999, p. 221, no. 190.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Semley Auctioneers, Dorset, UK, May 16, 1998, lot 176
A Private London Collection

The commercially-oriented Suzhou School produced bottles in agate, jade, crystal and possibly even in glass, the majority of which are of a rounded or ovoid form. The reason behind this, apart from the ease of carving the initial shape, was that the carver can use a continuous surface in his design. This bottle is fashioned in one of the most unusual forms seen in the Suzhou School and appears to be unique. The seal carved on this bottle would suggest that it was intended for, or commissioned by, a specific collector. Wen wan appears as a seal on a small group of bottles, which are not connected by either school or material, but which are all unusual bottles, carved at a very high level. The rare use of the white inclusion, in this case for the fan of the sage is a touch of genius artistically elevating this bottle above its colleagues.  The inscription here is a line from a poem by Yang Wanli (1127 -1206) entitled Xiaye zhuiliang "Seeking a place to cool off on a summer night". Yang Wanli was born in Jishui, in Jiangxi Province. He was one of the "Four Masters" of Song Dynasty poetry. Yang passed the official examinations in 1154 and thereafter served as a minor official. Towards the end of the period he was exiled to Hangzhou where he continued to write poetry, some with ironic humor, celebrating the beauty and mystery of nature, to complement the output of the famed Song painters of the time.

 

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