A COCONUT-SHELL 'BUDDHIST LION' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., 1987.

Robert Kleiner, Boda Yang, and Clarence F. Shangraw, Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of George and Mary Bloch, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 270.
National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 1994-1995.

Richard John Lynn, 'Technical Aspects and Connoisseurship of Snuff and Snuff Bottles: Late Traditional Chinese Sources', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Summer 1995, p. 9, fig. 6.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 7, Hong Kong, 2009, no. 1494.

Minor abrasions and cracks consistent with age and material. Darker area on flattened base, cracked with pieces missing. Part of the original material? Two darker areas, marked from old circular stickers.
"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."

Coconuts come in a variety of sizes and shapes; one variety, known as the ‘dwarf coconut’, can produce a very small elongated pod that is suitable as a snuff container without being cut into segments, as is necessary with larger, roughly spherical nuts. This bottle is made from a single such nut, and they are found even smaller than this (see, for instance, the thumb-sized Sale 2, lot 9).

This bottle is a typical mid- to late-Qing folk-art carving that might have been produced at any time during the second half of the dynasty.

The form of the bottle here is imaginative, with a splendid Buddhist lion curled up in what might be intended to be a boat but could equally be a rather stylized ingot of silver, or even a shoe. The Buddhist lion might imply a little Buddhist indifference to such symbols of wealth as the ingot of silver, but these beasts had seeped into popular culture by the Qing dynasty and become ubiquitous in the decorative arts as a talisman to ward off evil spirits, derived from their role as door guardians. Whatever the lion is resting in, it forms the base of the horizontally set bottle, and the flattened area beneath it forms the foot of the bottle. At the hindquarters of the beast is what at first glance resembles a piece of circular cash, since it is quite flat, but given the standard association of a Buddhist lion with a brocaded ball, one is left in no doubt as to its proper identification—it is even beribboned in the standard manner for such balls.

Although the detailing of the beast’s head is typical of a rather folk-art style, the detailing of the hair is unexpectedly finely carved. Tuft after overlapping tuft is very precisely carved, setting up not only a convincing depiction of hair, but also an impressive formal design.

Although of a different material, the stopper here has an air of originality to it, and the apparently original ivory spoon, which is set firmly into the integral wooden cork, is exactly the correct length for this particular snuff bottle, if one is to go by the standard imperial spoon length established in the eighteenth century and proven by many examples of surviving original stoppers.