清十八 / 十九世紀 橘色紅玉髓鼻煙壺

Robert Hall，倫敦，1985年

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202

Minute nibbles to inner and outer lip, some natural flaws in the stone.
"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."

Sources for carnelian proper, which is often found in pebble form lying at the surface or in gravel deposits, are the Arabian and Egyptian deserts, India, Japan, and China, where Xinjiang, probably among other sources, provided red chalcedony in a number of different varieties (see, for instance, Yang Hanchen 1985, no. 65 for some natural pebbles in both red and yellow material and no. 71 for a specimen half of which is made up of sardonyx and half of solid-coloured carnelian very similar to the material of this example).

Solid-colour carnelian bottles approaching the intensity of colour in this example are quite rare. This solid red material rarely occurs in large snuff bottles, suggesting that it was seldom found in big pieces, perhaps due to its source as small pebbles. An alternative possible reason for this is that there was a single workshop during the mid- to late-Qing period that specialised for some reason in miniature bottles in this material.

In favour of this second possibility is that most of the miniature bottles of the material appear to be of a similar shape, with the same sort of detailing and hollowing. Most of this group are of the simple flattened-oval form favoured at court during the mid-Qing period. They are usually very carefully hollowed and have lovely detailing including concave lips. This example, which represents the group, is unusually finely made in terms of its formal integrity and grace.