清十八 / 十九世紀 碧石雄黃色鼻煙壺

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205

Small chip to the outer lip. Otherwise, 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."

Quite frequently, jasper-like material is included in chalcedony or even crystalline quartz, blurring the line of distinction between what is properly described as jasper and what may be dense dendritic chalcedony. This example is the perfect illustration of this problem of terminology. At first glance it appears to be a straightforward example of red and orange jasper, with solid opaque colouring throughout. Closer examination, however, reveals obvious areas of dendritic markings and small patches of crystal. Under magnification, it becomes apparent that much of the surface is made up of very fine dendritic markings in a jasper-like, opaque orange-coloured material. ‘Dendritic jasper’ is a sensible term where the dendritic markings are obviously jasper, and particularly when they are densely packed in parts or blend, as they do here, into the more conventional non-dendritic jasper and if, as here, areas of crystal are also included, this can be noted as additional material information.

The brilliance and variegation of colour here, regardless of its specific designation, is typical of jasper and forms part of its appeal. In the red and orange range, such as here, the association with realgar cannot have escaped the Qing snuff-taker. Realgar, the natural disulphide of arsenic, was a substance much valued in Daoist alchemical practice but unsuited to use as a snuff bottle since it was prone to decompose when exposed to strong light over a period of time and was, of course, poisonous. Bottles in the material are extremely rare; large numbers of imitations of the material were made in glass as a substitute.

Formally, this example is of the broad range of flattened spherical bottles seen in Sale 1, lot 41; Sale 6, lot 114; Sale 7, lot 51(where the circle is ‘squared’ ever so slightly); and lots 1015 and 1065 in the present auction, with good formal integrity, hollowing, and detailing.