A QUARTZ BRECCIA SNUFF BOTTLE LATE QING DYNASTY / REPUBLICAN PERIOD

Wing Hing, Hong Kong, 1993.

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 300.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

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. 214.

Some nibbling to the outer lip. A natural flaw on the foot, not chipped. Numerous natural flaws and lines running throught the material
"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."

This unique material for the snuff-bottle world is a quartz breccia, where jagged fragments of quartz have been broken up through geological activity and subsequently re-cemented in a quartz or quartzite matrix. It is, in that sense, a metamorphic stone like quartzite and differs from the more common puddingstone mainly in that the fragments of quartz tend to be more jagged, broken pieces rather than well-worn pebbles cemented together in silica. The term breccia is derived from the Old High German word for breaking (brecha) and is used to distinguish materials with jagged fragments from those with smooth, pebble-like inclusions. The striking and unusual white ground of this material also sets it apart from the more common puddingstone range of material, which has a pale beige ground at its lightest. It creates a powerful natural design.

Like some of the other more unusual and striking materials in the quartz range in this collection, this may be a later bottle made more as a material specimen than a functioning bottle. The hollowing is well done but rudimentary and extends only a little beyond the diameter of the rather wide mouth. It would hold more snuff, of course, than the miniature peach, Sale 2, lot 86, but had it been made at a time of regular use, it is unlikely that the narrow-side walls would have been left so thick.

If it is from the late-Qing period, there is no significance in the little upper neck rim, which on an earlier bottle might have indicated the possibility of a palace origin. But it does give the form a subtle flourish that is more telling formally than one might expect from an apparently minor feature.