A ‘Hair-Crystal’ Snuff Bottle Qing Dynasty, 18th / 19th Century

Paula J. Hallett.
Sotheby’s London, 2nd May 1985, lot 401.
Hugh M. Moss Ltd., 1986.

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. 194.

There is an approximately 0.1cm chip to the outer lip of the mouth and a tiny area of polishing, otherwise, it is in good condition.
"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."

We know that both black and red hair-crystal was found in what is today Xinjiang (see Yang Hanchen 1985, nos. 57, 58 and 60 for black examples, and 59 for an example of red hair-crystal, sufficiently similar to this example to suggest a common source of material). Most early red hair crystal is of this rich, coppery colour. Much of the alternative material with silvery or golden-coloured hairs, often very fine, was imported, apparently from Brazil, in the 1960s and 1970s and carved into snuff bottles, often in Hong Kong. Modern black (tourmaline) hair-crystal bottles were also made at this time. Only the green (actinolite) hair crystals remained unfaked as far as one can tell, and it remains by far the rarest colour in snuff bottles. If one removes the modern outburst of production from consideration, a very rough numerical relationship might be that out of every one hundred early hair-crystal bottles, five would have coppery-red inclusions and one green. The rest would have black needles.

This example comes from the large group of probably mid-Qing plain, rounded rectangular bottles exemplified by Sale 2, lot 42, where it is mentioned that a number of other materials in which this form is found. Formally, it exhibits the superb technical control of the group, with its faultless formal integrity, excellent hollowing (with closely matched inner and outer profiles), and neat, confidently carved foot and neck details. As a piece of material, while being of the standard colour for early red hair crystal, the variation in thickness of the needle-like crystals and their random positioning gives it considerable character, allowing the imaginative aesthete the opportunity to read a number of possible alternative representational subjects into the intersecting lines. The intriguing and unusual cluster of very thin hairs at the foot creates the impression of an area of coppery-golden haze that is visually effective, providing a foreground for any representational interpretation based upon landscape.