A CALCIFIED JADE SNUFF BOTTLE

well hollowed, of flattened circular form below a cylindrical neck, supported on a neatly carved oval foot and a slightly concave base, carved in high relief to one face with a shou medallion, the reverse with a concave circular panel for use as a snuff dish, the stone of a pale gray color with minute dark flecks and fine veins

Collection of Bob C. Stevens.
Sotheby's Honolulu, 7th November 1981, lot 136.
Collection of Janos Szekeres.
Sotheby's New York, 27th October 1986, lot 126.

Chinese Snuff Bottles and Dishes. An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Bob C. Stevens Collection at Mikimoto Hall, Ginza, Tokyo, 22nd-31st October 1978, cat.no. 178.

Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Tokyo, 1976, no. 369.
JICSBS, Winter 1986, p. 33, fig. 3.
Patrick K. M. Kwok, 'The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles', Arts of Asia, November-December 1993, p. 94, no. 21.

The bottle is in good condition with one tiny nick on the edge of the 'shou' medallion.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Calcified jade is sometimes referred to as 'chicken bone jade' or 'burnt jade'. It can be created to imitate buried Neolithic jades by heating the stone to an extremely high temperature.

The design on the present bottle displays a sense of symmetry, but also contrasts the concave face with the crisply carved shou ('longevity') character on the reverse. For an example of a jade snuff bottle with an integral snuff dish, see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka BoTsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Hong Kong, 1995, Volume 1, pp. 212-213, pl. 87.