清十八 / 十九世紀 紅白瑪瑙天然紋鼻煙壺

永興行，香港，1985年

Robert Kleiner、楊伯達及 Clarence F. Shangraw，《盈寸纖研 ─ 瑪麗及佐治伯樂鼻煙壺珍藏》，香港藝術館，香港，1994年，編號210
新加坡國家博物館，新加坡，1994-1995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215

It is in good condition.
"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."

Material referred to in the customs records as ‘carnelian’ was imported in vast quantities by foreign vessels. In 1868 – 1872, 3,558,682 stones and 242.71 piculs of beads were imported to Canton , with the highest volumes in 1869 and 1872 (China 1873, p. 9, seq. 113, accessed 30 December 2013; a picul is approx. 60.4 kg). Whether all of this was precisely the kind of quartz we call carnelian is doubtful, nor do we know how it compared with overland imports and domestic production. (‘Western agate’ and domestic agate were recognized explicitly or implicitly as distinct types by at least one Ming writer and one late-nineteenth-century writer; see Sale 7, lot 65.) But it is safe to assume that some of it was used for snuff bottles in addition to other lapidary art works and rosary beads.

The common and popular white and pale grey striated agate is here combined with red striations, qualifying it as carnelian-agate and making it an unusual specimen for the snuff-bottle world. What makes it even rarer as material is that the red colour becomes dendritic on the two narrow sides, allowing a charming interpretation as fan-tailed goldfish swimming among strange rock formations. Nor would it be difficult to imagine oneself, looking at the side with the more sharply angled white peak, standing in a precipitous gorge, gazing out towards a sunset beyond mist and distant cliffs. The other side can also be interpreted as more towering rocks. The central darker area could even be read as the Island of Penglai, rising vertically from the waves of the Eastern Ocean (the overtly intended subject of Sale 3, lot 11).

A large number of snuff-bottle forms based on a simple sphere can be produced by varying the degree of compression and the shape of neck and foot. But it is quite rare for the body of a snuff bottle to be a precise compressed sphere. As a rule, forms were arrived at visually rather than scientifically, and the sphere usually ends up slightly ovate, either vertically or horizontally. The visual impression, however, is usually of a flattened sphere—at the very least, the spherical origin of the form is still apparent.

In this example, however, the shape compressed is actually precisely spherical. Apart from the degree of compression, all that has been done to vary the spherical shape is the addition of a cylindrical neck and an oval foot. As is standard for these details, the width of the foot is greater than that of the neck. Otherwise, it would be far less stable when put down, and would be nothing like as elegant visually, resembling more a toffee-apple stuck on a thick stick.

Despite its small size, this bottle is formally faultless, thoughtfully and elegantly proportioned, very well hollowed, and impeccably finished with as crisply carved and confident a foot as exists anywhere in the snuff-bottle world. This bottle was produced by a technically masterful artist, and one may assume that the shape was not arrived at lightly. It is, therefore, also likely that the temptation to extend the compressed circle one way or the other for visual elegance, so often a solution for the snuff-bottle maker, was felt to be unnecessary here, since the vertical axis of the natural design on both sides gives the impression of greater height than width.