A Ruby-Red Overlay White Glass ‘Horse and Qilin’ Snuff Bottle Qing Dynasty, 18th Century

together with a watercolour illustration by Peter Suart

Janos Szekeres.
Sotheby’s New York, 27th October 1986, lot 32. 

Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 5, no. 895.

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."

There is a temptation to assume this horse to have been carved by the same artist as the one responsible for Sale 1, lot 43. The bottles are in similar material, the style of carving is very detailed, and the horses are realistic and very well carved. That one may be more fluid and impressive than this, but there is a marked stylistic resemblance. Compare, for instance, the raised foreleg where it crosses the leg set on the ground. It is possible, of course, that differences between this bottle and that may reflect sketches of differing quality provided to a single carver, and possibly production for a less momentous occasion.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 16th November 1989, lot 23 supports a link of some sort between this bottle and Sale 1, lot 43. Rendered in similar style, it features a horse tied to a hitching post in a composition identical to Sale 1, lot 43 and combined with a qilin like this one (but in green overlay on a snowstorm ground). Another very similar combination of designs by the same workshop, but in red overlay on a milky, bubble-suffused ground, is also known (Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 30th October 1990, lot 20). These bottles must also be linked by the horse style and quality of carving to the bannerman of Sale 4, lot 94. For reasons explained in the commentary to that bottle, one should now be less certain than before to associate that bottle with the extermination of the Zunghar Mongols in 1759, but the dating range proposed still seems reasonable.

A number of these bottles exist, displaying a variety of subjects linked not only by the rock-carving style (when rocks appear) but by the extraordinarily detailed carving. This is more apparent on the side showing the qilin, where barely a square millimetre of overlay is not busily patterned with surface carving. Another example, combining green and red overlay on a white ground (Friedman 1990, no. 34) helps to explain the difference between the merely superb carvings represented by this and the Friedman bottle and the sheer transcendent brilliance of Sale 1, lot 43. The two bottles are not only of the same subject but identical composition, down to the positioning and shape of the bat above the horse’s saddle. The two known versions of the horses tied to the ring handles are of different compositions. Once a workshop begins to produce identical compositions, a hint of commercial craft intrudes and the level of artistic commitment is threatened. Technically no problem exists in producing a series to the highest standards, but artists tend to devote a little less care to the tenth version of a subject.