清十八 / 十九世紀 福州彩漆鼻煙壺

Arthur Gadsby 收藏，1980年
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd
Belfort 收藏，1986年

《Très précieuses tabatières chinoises: Collection rassemblée par Maître Viviane Jutheau》，L’Arcade Chaumet，巴黎，1982年

Viviane Jutheau，《Guide du collectionneur de tabatières chinoises》，巴黎，1980年，頁135
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1523

The overall condition is very good except for some minor surface scratches and wear.
"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."

Fuzhou, the capital of coastal Fujian province, is famous for its so-called ‘bodiless’ lacquer, among other things. Sale 7, lot 23, for example, is an uncompressed form that might have been built on a clay form that was eventually scraped out through the neck.

For compressed forms, however, the visible evidence suggests that the method followed was much the same as the standard for constructing porcelain snuff bottles. A two-part mould was used, made probably of either wood or clay. (For a bottle such as this, both parts could be taken from a single mould.) Lacquer-soaked fabric was pressed into the mould and formed; when hard, the two sections were removed from the mould and joined with lacquer before any final decoration was added to finish the product.

Legend has it that the inventor of the bodiless technique was Shen Shao’an 沈紹安 (b. 1767), whose descendants continued to produce wares at Fuzhou into modern times. Some wares from the Republican period are known bearing the family factory name; they were clearly intended for export, for they have a mark on the bottom combining Chinese and English versions. Around the mark: 中華福建沈紹安蘭記 Shen Shao an Lang kee, Foochow, China. In the centre of the mark: Toudeng shangpiao 頭等商標 (‘Top-grade trademark’).

The Shen Shao’an lanji (to use the pinyin spelling) was opened in 1915 by the twenty-four-year-old Shen Youlan 沈幼蘭 (also known as Shen Zhengduo 正鐸), who had learned the trade while working in the lacquer store of his cousin Shen Zhengxun 沈正恂. The cousins were fifth-generation descendants of Shen Shao’an and represent the first generation to split into competing firms.

Shen Zhengxun’s mark is found in a similar format, with Shoon Kee (i.e., Xunji) 恂記 in place of Lanji. For a complete account of the Shen family’s business, see Zeng Yidan and Xu Heping 2001, pp. 197 – 204.

The widely travelled Constance F. Gordon Cumming, writing of the crafts of Fuzhou, mentioned what can only be Shen family lacquer ware (Wanderings in China, 1886):                                  

The special industries of Foo-Chow are the quaintest little fat figures carved in soapstone, and a very beautiful sort of lacquer of which the manufacture is a secret known only to one family here, and most jealously guarded. It is smooth as satin, and the colours used are chiefly dull red and olive green. Beautiful large boxes are made of it, and table ornaments. Of these, one of the most fascinating designs is a lotus blossom resting on its own beautifully modelled leaves. Being a secret, and therefore a monopoly, each piece produced commands a high price, immensely in excess of that of other beautiful lacquers generally accounted precious. (1888 ed., p. 132)

This bottle’s rather spectacular feathered effect of random markings in varied colours was one of the techniques used at Fuzhou, although it is not known which descendant of Shao’an developed it—and it must be remembered that there were over forty competing lacquerworks in Fuzhou in the Guangxu era (Zeng and Xu, p. 201) who might have used this technique. It may have been inspired by the more complex, well-known method of creating lacquer with a marbled effect, where thin layers of different colours are painted onto an uneven surface so that when it is polished flat, they come to the surface at random, creating a natural looking, marble-like pattern. The method here is much simpler, with dabs of different colours applied to an apparently still-wet ground, so that whatever was used to dab the colour could be dragged a little, and the colours partially blended into the ground colour.

A very similar method of decoration is used on the well-known series of shells represented by Sale 3, lot 137.                                       

A similar bottle, but of darker colouring, is in Hall 2003, no. 82; and either the same or a very similar bottle was in the Alice B. McReynolds Collection, Sotheby’s, New York, 16 April 1985, lot 123.