AN ENGRAVED BRONZE 'DRAGON' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY / REPUBLICAN PERIOD

together with a watercolour illustration by Peter Suart

Collection of Lilla S. Perry.
Collection of Bob C. Stevens.
Sotheby's Honolulu, 7th November 1981, lot 202.
Hugh M. Moss Ltd., 1984.
Robert Hall, London. 

Bob C. Stevens, Chūgoku no bienko to sara/Chinese Snuff Bottles and Dishes, Catalogue of an exhibtion from the collection of Bob Stevens, Mikimoto Hall, Tokyo, 1978, cat. no. 341.
Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Sydney L. Moss Ltd, London, 1987, cat. no. 244.
Les plus belles collections privées de Hong-Kong, Galeries Lafayette, Paris, 1990.
Kleine Schätze aus China. Snuff bottles—Sammlung von Mary und George Bloch erstmals in Österreich, Creditanstalt, Vienna, 1993, p. 4.

Lila S. Perry, Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Adventures and Studies of a Collector, Tokyo, 1960, p. 27, fig. 7.
Bob C. Stevens, The Collector’s Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Tokyo, 1976, no. 808.
Snuff Bottle Review, February 1978, p. 13.
William W. Harris, ‘Review of the Bob C. Stevens Exhibition at the Mikimoto’s’, Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, December 1978, p. 44, no. 341.
Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, December 1980, front cover.
Art at Auction: The Year at Sotheby’s, 1981-82, Sotheby’s Totowa, 1982, p. 357, fig. 1.
Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Spring 1984, back cover.
Laurence Souksi and Bertrand de Lavergne, Tabatières chinoises: Trésors des collections privées françaises, Paris, n.d., p. 4.
Emily Byrne Curtis, ‘News and Viewpoints. Some Comments on the Bloch
Catalogue’, Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Spring 1989, p. 31. fig. 2.
Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, London, 1990, cat. no. 81.
Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Summer 1992, p. 30.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 7, Hong Kong, 2009, no. 1618.

Apart from some small surface scratches and abrasions, 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."

Out of fifty-eight metal (bronze or copper) bottles bearing the name Cheng Rongzhang, six are dated to the first year of the Shunzhi era (1644); four to the second year; thirteen to the third year; four to the fourth year; one to the fifth year; seven to the sixth year; two to the seventh year, none to the eighth year; seven to the ninth year, and nine to the tenth year (1653). There are then five for which no information is available about the inscriptions. Obviously, the third year was a popular choice for the Shunzhi Bronze Forger.

During his career he may have selected a year to slap on a bottle entirely at random or, in some cases, as dictated by the dealers who were disseminating the bottles to unwary collectors.

The same style of dragon engraving appears on bottles with both early and late dates, and some of the more sophisticated designs of birds and flowers, figures, or landscapes, which on genuine wares one might expect to follow the earlier, crudely engraved dragons, are dated to various years between the second and the tenth.

Surprisingly, only nine out of the fifty-eight bottles shows any significant signs of wear at all, and of those only two were severely worn to the point of the designs being threatened. The rest were in remarkably crisp condition, with the engraving still relatively sharp. Where there was wear, it is quite possible that the maker faked it, as well as patination, right from the outset. Bronze wears readily in constant use, however, and even as fakes; the ones exhibiting more wear may have fallen into the hands of snuff takers and been used regularly over a long period of time.

What is clearly absent is a sufficient range of wear and patination to suggest that they were used for two hundred and fifty years. As a guide to what well-handled bronze should look like from the seventeenth century, there are a range of small paperweights, many of which are well worn and smoothed through constant handling.

Even if no longer believable as a product of the third year of Shunzhi, this snuff bottle is one of the most famous of all the Cheng Rongzhang bronze bottles, having been owned by both Lilla Perry and Bob C. Stevens and extensively illustrated.