AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS 'PARROT AND PEACH TREE' SNUFF BOTTLE BAI LANGCHEN, LATE QING / REPUBLICAN

Arts of China, 1987. 
Collection of Blossom and Hugh Moss, 1987 (gift).

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 429.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997. 
Christie’s London, 1999.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 4, Hong Kong, 2000, no. 563.

The overall condition is excellent.
"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."

Bai Langchen is an intriguing artist who holds the record among inside-painted snuff-bottle artists for the longest career devoted to producing practically nothing.

He worked for almost as long as Ye Zhongsan, and yet there are only 15 surviving works recorded. His earliest dated bottle is from 1894; and example dated to 1896 is recorded; and then there is a long gap, possibly filled, albeit sparsely, by some of his eleven undated examples, until 1930 when he dated a bottle painted with butterflies on one side and scholars in a lakeside pavilion on the other. There is one other bottle dated to 1940 recorded by Hugh Moss in the 1960s from the Beijing Arts and Crafts Corporation. Two of the undated bottles are inscribed ‘Executed by Bai Langchen at the age of seventy,’ which must come from the end of his career, perhaps in the 1930s or early 1940s.

That is the sum total of his long career as an artist.

This is one of Bai Langchen’s finest works, in a lovely glass bottle with two unique subjects for the artist, both related to a wish for longevity.

Bai Langchen’s name is sometimes seen with a spelling that reflects the correct ‘literary’ reading of his name: Bo Langchen.