清十八世紀中葉 / 十九世紀中葉 巧色瑪瑙「錦鯉」圖鼻煙壺

very well hollowed, with a flat lip and a recessed, very slightly convex foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim, carved with a cameo design wrapped around one main and two narrow sides of a large carp in a lotus pond, defined by a line of formalized waves above the foot; the agate stopper with a silver collar

Gerd Lester 收藏
Pauline Lester 收藏
紐約蘇富比1997年3月17日，編號214

《中國鼻煙壺》，香港藝術館，香港，1977年，編號198

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷2，香港，1998年，編號312

There is a slight unevenness of surface on the back to remove a flaw in the stone (likely to be original). Otherwise the 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."

The separation of the relief plane from the ground plane on this bottle is so convincing that, with the design mainly concentrated on three sides and the lower half of the bottle, the relief carving appears to be almost temporarily applied to a perfectly formed plain, compressed spherical bottle. As so often with this school, the relief functions primarily to raise an essentially two-dimensional image to a higher plane. There is no attempt to detail the edges of the three or four millimetres of depth of carving, which are mostly left plain except for the lotus stems, which are carved convincingly in an attempt at three-dimensional reality. A similar approach to the other details would have left them awkwardly squared-off.

Although the neatness of the foot detail, with its broad, flat footrim and almost flat recessed foot, and the impeccable hollowing would allow a late Qianlong date for this bottle, it is perhaps as likely to date from the first half of the nineteenth century.

This squat, globular form was a popular one in ceramics during the Daoguang period. Another chalcedony example from the Bloch collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 23rd November 2010, lot 50, proves beyond doubt that superb quality combined with excellent detailing was still possible in the Daoguang period, even if no longer the invariable rule. It is possible that this whole sub-group of green dendritic cameos was mostly made during the first half of the nineteenth century.