An Inside-Painted Glass ‘Landscape’ Snuff Bottle Chen Zhongsan,1917

B. T. Lyons.
Sotheby’s London, 20th April 1982, lot 204.

Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 4, no. 643.

Bottle: Workshop condition. Painting: Slight spoon scratches down narrow sides, not obtrusive. Otherwise, studio condition.
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Chen Zhongsan is a late-comer in the Beijing school whose dated bottles span a little over a decade between 1907 and 1919. He maintained his own distinctive style throughout his career. He was obviously a commercial artist and primarily a decorative one, as were so many of the followers of Zhou Leyuan, but some of his work rises above the merely decorative. This one is charming and of an unusual and intriguing subject, and Sale 3, lot 81 is one of his masterpieces. He is perhaps better viewed as a folk artist, so that instead of seeking in vain for lofty brushwork and other hidden languages of Chinese art, one can concentrate on the naïve, childlike charms of most of his subject matter, which is always rewarding.

He borrowed subjects from other commercial artists without fear or favour but always managed to infuse them with his own distinctive style. This particular scene is unusual for Chen, although he painted rain-swept landscapes several times throughout his career. It shows a gathering storm, with rain slashing down across the distant mountains and onto the scholar hurrying home in his boat to avoid the worst of it. Chen has composed his busy subject with his usual cluttered confidence, managing to fill his painting with a mass of detail without losing coherence. The rain sweeping down across the distant peaks is particularly well depicted and suggests that the various participants in the scene had better find shelter quickly.

Chen Zhongsan painted almost exclusively in glass, as did a number of the more decorative artists of the period, suggesting that there was a price range beyond which these artists were not able to sell their works too readily, prompting them to confine themselves to the cheapest material available for painting. He also seems to have used a range of rather fatter glass bottles than was usual for the school. This is slightly fatter than the standard Beijing glass bottle used by Zhou Leyuan and so many of his followers, and Sale 3, lot 81 is considerably fatter. The shape is otherwise much the same, and the detailing of the neck and foot identical, so it is possible that Chen ordered fatter bottles to give himself a bit more space inside for wielding his pen.