A CHALCEDONY ‘HORSES’ SNUFF BOTTLE OFFICIAL SCHOOL, QING DYNASTY, MID-18TH / MID-19TH CENTURY

very well hollowed, with a flat lip and a recessed flat foot surrounded by a protruding wide, flat footrim, carved with a cameo scene of two horses, one fat and one thin, the latter drinking from a stream, set in a rocky landscape carved out of the ground colour; the lapis-lazuli stopper with a mother-of-pearl finial

Christie’s Hong Kong, 19th January 1988, lot 629.

Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of George and Mary Bloch, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 234.
National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 1994-1995.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, The British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 277.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

Hugh Moss, 'Criteria for Judging Snuff Bottles', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, December 1977, p. 21.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1998, no. 306.

One narrow end of the outer footrim is lightly polished to remove a chip (not obtrusive); otherwise the snuff bottle is in good condition. The actual colour of the stone is less pink, more pale purplish compared to the catalogue illustration.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present bottle appears to be from the same workshop as other horse-subject masterpieces such as two examples from the Bloch Collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 28th May 2010, lot 12 and 23rd November 2010, lot 145. It must surely be from the same hand as the almost-identical example in the J & J Collection, illustrated in Hugh Moss, Victor Graham, and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, vol. 1, New York, 1993, p. 246, no. 153, and the two may well have been made from the same piece of material with identical designs and detailing, other than the rocky ground at the base where the lines differs slightly. What we know for certain is that a good many of the better Official School bottles came from the same mid-Qing workshops, which were connected in some way to the court. What we cannot be so sure of is whether this large group represents the main output of the Palace workshops at Beijing or whether they were ordered elsewhere, perhaps at Suzhou.

One feature of this group is the long tails of the horses, which nearly always fall straight down to a point just clear of the close to one rear leg, separated from it only by the often slightly lower plane and the incised hair-work on the tail. A number of stock stances for the beasts and the detailing of faces, hooves, etc. also link them stylistically. Another feature of the Official School is its distinctive rockwork style, which sets jagged, horizontal planes of rock against each other, incised with a long series of short, parallel lines set either vertically or diagonally.

The subject of a fat and a thin horse is a standard metaphor for response to official power and responsibility that dates back at least to the Yuan dynasty in Chinese painting. The fat horse stands for the selfish official who uses his position for personal gain, while the other one represents the conscientious official who never takes anything for himself.