清十八 / 十九世紀 抱子石光素鼻煙壺

紐約蘇富比1990年4月6日，編號75

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246
新加坡國家博物館，新加坡，1994-5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213

A small area of the neck has been slightly polished. There are a few polished nicks to the exterior footring, including one flake of approx. 0.1 cm with an associated short hairline extending upwards to about 0.5 cm. The stone has numerous characteristic inclusions and typical pittings. The actual bottle is of a deeper tone than the catalogue illustration.
"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.
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This variety of quartz puddingstone is distinguished by the breccia matrix made up a host of jagged fragments visible to the naked eye. An identical piece of stone, presumably from the same specimen and made by the same workshop, is in the J & J Collection (Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, no. 74).

Similar snuff bottles have the palace-style upper neck rim and tapering form that suggest this type of puddingstone might have been carved at and for the court. A further link between this cylindrical form and the court is to be found in a series of cylindrical glass bottles, many of imperial colour and attributable to the court (see, for instance, the ruby glass example in Au Hang 1993, no. 11, which is very similar in shape to this example). Others are known in white nephrite of exactly this form, (see, for instance, Au Hang 1993, no. 99). The existence of a range of different materials in identical form alerts one, as always, to the possibility of an imperial source.

This simpler form may well reflect the deliberate choice of the artist to tame the busy pattern of the material.