拍品 25
  • 25

清十八 / 十九世紀 白玉鋪首紋鼻煙壺

估價
14,000 - 20,000 HKD
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招標截止

描述

  • jade

來源

Robert Kleiner,倫敦,1994年

出版

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶,《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》,卷1,香港,1996年,編號 40

Condition

The overall condition is excellent.
"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."

拍品資料及來源

This unusual miniature bottle is extremely well detailed for so small a carving. Superbly made miniatures are probably rarer than superbly made bottles of the standard size range. When found, however, they share the delights of any miniature art form where mastery of technique is unaffected by size (see Sale 5, lot 76 for another example). There is an added sense of wonder at the capacity of the artist to create so tiny a work of art to such a high standard of perfection.

The vertical faceting of this example is particularly impressive and elegant. The bulge of the form is contained within in the four main panels while the four subsidiary facets are straight-sided for most of their length. This gives the effect of four roughly oval panels contained in a frame comprising the subsidiary facets, the neck, and the area around the outer foot rim. The very slightly tapering neck is a masterly touch in balancing the gentle curvature of the facets.

The mask handles relieve the plainness on each narrow side without destroying the appeal of an essentially plain bottle. The detailing of the concave lip is also an indication of the commitment of the artist and of the fact that even so small a bottle was taken seriously as a work of art and deemed worthy of the extra attention to detail and physical work required to achieve this feature.

It should be noted that the detailed carving of the mask-and-ring handles is not under the same faultless control as the principal formal languages of the bottle. However, although there is no sure indication of where this bottle might have been made, the slightly flawed material with whiter inclusions is typical of the nephrite used by the court, and the mask handles are also of a type that would be sensibly associated with the palace (see discussion under Sale 6, lot 174). Two known features of palace mask-and-ring handles are distinct ears and a series of formalized curls around the head; here the carver has combined these features by depicting the two ears almost as if they were intended to be formalized curls.

The faceting could also be associated with the court, where it was a common decorative technique on a wide range of materials. These features allow a tentative attribution to the palace workshops for this delightful miniature.