A Reticulated Ivory ‘Phoenix’ Snuff Bottle Japan, Late 19th / Early 20th Century

Fulford Collection (prior to 1960).
Cyril Green.
 

JICSBS, March 1979, front cover.
Jutheau 1980, p. 127.
Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 7, no. 1690.

The overall condition is very good.
"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 famous and oft-published bottle was correctly identified as Japanese some time ago. It is one of the few from the entire Japanese output that is extremely well hollowed in terms of both capacity and the smoothing of the interior. It is entirely convincing functionally and, although the mark is a little shakily drawn, it is one of the few where the formalization of the seal script is accurate and based closely on a genuine Chinese original, probably on a porcelain bottle.

Hints as to its Japanese origin are found in the strange engraved design at the shoulders and in the fact that on a Chinese bottle the leiwen pattern would have been more likely to continue to the neck rather than end in a strange little roof-like peak with a delta in it. Nor is this the only odd feature of the leiwen. With authentic Chinese leiwen borders, when painted on porcelain, for instance, it is the positive, enamelled line that is intended to be read. When carved, there are two possibilities: it is either possible to read the carved line (the engraved trough, which looks darker here) or the white space left in relief and defined by the carved lines. It is more common for the relief to be read. Here the artist has put his double units in a rectangular frame with the intention of the engraved lines being read and not the relief, which makes them ambiguous. To grasp the difference, compare the narrow-side design with the neck band, where the relief is intended to be read as the double unit. These leiwen designs are often strangely distorted on Japanese snuff bottles.

Having nit-picked at the peripheral decorative borders, we find it a pleasure to turn our attention to the main panels, which are superbly carved with an unusual degree of depth of carving and undercutting, leaving a good deal of the relief plane free standing. This has all been very cleverly achieved so that the relief plane is relatively flat and, therefore, very practical for a snuff bottle, where high flying relief is likely to catch in clothing or be damaged in use. The artist has found a clever formula for combining deep relief and extremely intricate carving with a relatively flat surface plane. A number of more obviously Japanese bottles employ a similar device, although without the reticulation (see, for instance, Stevens 1976, nos. 775, 778, and 779).