AN INSIDE-PAINTED CRYSTAL 'DOCUMENTS' SNUFF BOTTLE MA SHAOXUAN, 1910

Wing Hing, Hong Kong, 1988.

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. 337.
National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 1994-1995.
Christie’s London, 1999.

Nancy Berliner, 'The "Eight Brokens":Chinese Trompe-l'oeil Painting, Orientations, February 1992, p. 70, fig. 18.
Victor E. Graham, 'Images on Snuff Bottles', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Winter 1995, p. 13.
Zengshan Ma, Inside-Painted Snuff Bottle Artist Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1936): A Biography and Study, Baltimore, 1997, pp. 80-81, figs. 80-81.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 4, Hong Kong, 2000, no. 594.

Bottle: Good condition. Painting: some minor spoon scratching and snuffy interior.
"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."

For the meaning of groups of damaged documents of this kind, see Sale 4, lot 40, which is of a very similar grouping with many documents in common. The objects depicted here comprise collected literary works, calligraphic specimens, correspondence, a government communiqué and a folding-fan painting detached from its frame. Ma Shaoxuan’s own signature appears at the end of a calligraphic specimen from a famous essay by Wang Bo 王勃 (650–675) entitled ‘Preface Commemorating a Farewell Party Held at the Pavilion of the Prince of Teng in the Hong Prefecture on an Autumn Day’. The twenty-two characters (including those hidden by another sheet of paper) of this extract read

虹消雨霽，彩徹雲衢。落霞與孤鶩齊飛，秋水共長天一色。

The rainbow has dissolved, the rain has cleared. Colour coruscates through the boulevards of the clouds. Descending rosy mists fly level with a lone duck; Shining autumn waters blend into the far-off sky.

The inscriptions on the other main side are written in four different scripts. At the top, in regular script, are two poetic lines apparently composed by Ma:

百樣精神百樣春，小園深處靜無塵。

A hundred aspects of spring; a hundred moods;
In the depths of a small garden — peaceful and free from worldly dust.

Beneath that to the right, in cursive script is: 
百般幻影隨揮灑，翻笑滕王太認真。

All kinds of phenomena appear when I flourish my brush,
But I laugh at the Prince of Teng for being too earnest. 

The Pavilion of the Prince of Teng, made famous by the Wang Bo composition quoted on the other side of this snuff bottle, was recreated in several meticulously detailed architectural paintings from the Song dynasty on; Ma’s couplet probably means something like ‘I laugh at paintings of the Prince of Teng’s Pavilion for being too earnest, in contrast to my free brushwork’. The personality of the prince himself has not been a topic of interest in Chinese culture and in any case would have nothing to do with the first line.

To the left of that, in clerical script, are four lines taken from different poems in the Ershisi shipin 二十四詩品 by Sikong Tu 司空徒 (837 – 908; see Sale 3, lot 51 for details and Sale 7, lot 165 for another work bearing the same four lines):

綠林野屋，華草精神。脫有形似，明月前身。

A rustic cottage in a verdant grove;
The essence of flowers and foliage.
It escapes formal resemblance;
The bright moon is my former life.

In seal script in the lower section are two poetic lines: 

想是三春游上苑，毫端猶帶墨華香
I think it’s because he roamed the imperial gardens in spring
That his brush tip still carries the fragrance of ink blossoms.

It is interesting to compare this example with Sale 4, lot 40, which is in good condition. One may be certain that the colouring was originally identical here, but that constant exposure to snuff has altered the colours, particularly the brilliant vermilion, which has turned to a mottled russet colour, subduing the overall image. Apart from being an attractive transformation, as the browning of ancient silk or paper is with a hanging scroll, there is something rather appropriate about a painting of burnt, torn, or fragmentary documents, being affected in this way.