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Eloge de l'Art par Alain Truong
10 septembre 2010

The Joe Grimberg Collection's three black jade snuff bottles

749398

A black jade snuff bottle. 1780-1820. photo courtesy Sotheby's 

very well hollowed, of flattened square form with rounded corners, sloping to a cylindrical neck, resting on a carved oval foot, the stone well polished, the white inclusion on one face deeply carved with an eagle proudly perched on a rock, with one talon raised, the reverse plain save for low relief carving of mist; height 2 3/8 in., 6 cm - Estimate 20,000 - 30,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th April 1993, lot 554.

NOTE: The contrast of the white bird set against the even dark ground creates a dramatic effect that successfully captures the bird's grace and pride. In fact, the Chinese word for eagle (ying) is a homonym for 'hero' and the depiction of an eagle on a rock is symbolic of a warrior ready for battle. Moreover, an eagle perched on one leg forms the rebus 'A great man towers over his peers'.

Snuff bottles in various media have portrayed the eagle in this light. A carved white glass example, painted with an eagle on a rock beneath a pine tree, formerly in The J &J Collection, was sold in these rooms, 15th September 1998, lot 15 and again at Christie's New York, 15th September 2009, lot 190. Another black jade example, but with a white and russet inclusion carved as the eagle, is illustrated in John Gilmore Ford, Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Edward Choate O'Dell Collection, Baltimore, 1982, no. 1.

152502_1078337

A black jade snuff bottle. 18th century. photo courtesy Sotheby's

very well hollowed, of flattened rectangular form with rounded corners, the sloping shoulder below a cylindrical neck, resting on a concave oval base, the stone of grayish-black color suffused with white striations, one face reminiscent of the landscape theme 'Spring Mountain After the Rain', the base later incised with a two-character collector's seal mark wu xing; height 2 1/2 in., 6.4 cm - Estimate 15,000 - 25,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Shakris Viboonvoradej.

NOTE: As with Chinese 'dream stones', the jade selected for the present bottle invites the viewer to contemplate upon the abstract patterns natural to the stone. One can imagine a mountainous landscape, just moments after the rain has passed and everything in the landscape is imbued with a soft, dreamlike mist. The beauty of this type of jade lies in the infinite interpretations one can make of the patterns. For a similar example, see Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World: The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, New York, 1994, pp. 268-269, no. 116.

152503_1078347

A black jade snuff bottle. 1750-1820. photo courtesy Sotheby's

very well hollowed, of flattened square form with rounded corners sloping to a cylindrical neck, resting on a concave oval base, of grayish black color with a horizontal white band across the center; height 2 1/4 in., 5.7 cm - Estimate 15,000 - 25,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Graham Thewlis Collection.

Clare Lawrence Ltd.

The Alexander Brody Collection.

Clare Lawrence Ltd

LITERATURE: Clare Lawrence, The Thewlis Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, London, 1990, p. 48, no. 71.

Alexander Brody, Old Wine into Old Bottles: A Collector's Commonplace Book, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 64 and 153, no. 64.

Clare Lawrence, The Alexander Brody Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, London, 1995, p. 13, no. 7

NOTE: There is a small group of bottles and carvings all produced from the same type of black nephrite used to fashion this bottle. The stone is predominately black with inclusions varying from dark gray to lighter shades including white. Many of the bottles and carvings are carved in the style known to snuff bottle collectors as the Suzhou School; a school of carving where the carver utilizes the inclusions to highlight the subject matter, often to great effect. Very few of these 'black' nephrite bottles are left uncarved on the main outer surface, presumably because the stone was full of inclusions to inspire the maker. Compare to a similar bottle in The Crane Collection, www.thecranecollection.com, no. 170.

Sotheby's. The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, New York, 14 Sep 2010

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