晚清 / 民國 白銅鼻煙壺

Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd，1985年

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷7，香港，2009年，編號1621

Tiny nibbles to the outer lip. Barely visible vertical scratches and small chips seen on one of the circular panels. Further dents and surface scratches and abrasions, all from use.
"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."

Although in white copper rather than bronze, this is obviously related to the Cheng Rongzhang group of bottles (see Sale 5, lot 69). It is of identical construction to the bronze bottles from the group and follows the most common form for them. Whether or not it is an unfinished work or simply unsigned is less certain, but since it was probably either from the workshop of the Shunzhi Bronze Forger or inspired by his output, it seems safe to assume it is from the same sort of period.

However, there is always a slight possibility that this is an older bottle of a type that the Shunzhi Bronze Forger copied formally for his own wares.

A number of different names are used for the alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc represented by this example. In Europe it was often called nickel silver, since it was used widely as a substitute for silver, but two other English terms used for it reflect the fact that the Europeans seem to have learned of the alloy from Asia. One is tutenag (with various spellings since it appeared in English in 1622, partly because the word has several forms in different Indian languages and other European tongues); another is paktong (reflecting its southern Chinese pronunciation—it is baitong in Mandarin—and, again, there have been spelling variations since the word appeared in English in 1776). Because it was widely used as a substitute for silver, the alloy also acquired an unusually large number of rather romanticized names that might lead the unwary to believe they were dealing with the real thing (Brazilian silver; Afghan silver, Venetian silver, and many more; apparently everyone blamed the fake metal on a competitor).