107 - AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK-CRYSTAL ‘SUMMER LANDSCAPE’ SNUFF BOTTLE ZHOU LEYUAN, BEIJING, 1890-1891

AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK-CRYSTAL ‘SUMMER LANDSCAPE’ SNUFF BOTTLE ZHOU LEYUAN, BEIJING, 1890-1891 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of rounded rectangular form with a cylindrical neck, flat lip and recessed, flat, oval foot surrounded by a protruding rounded foot rim of the same shape, painted with a continuous scene of a summer landscape in the mountains, with a scholar strolling towards an open pavilion, his attendant behind him and a fisherman in a boat on a river beyond, fed by a waterfall from the distant, cloud-shrouded mountains, with pine and other trees, inscribed in drafts scrip ‘Executed by Zhou Leyuan,’ with one seal of the artist, yin (‘seal’) in negative seal script Height: 6.2cm Provenance: Wang Ning, (April 2000) Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 19th March 2007, (a copy of the original invoice available) Zhou Leyuan (of the Lotus Fragrance Studio, Xuanwu district, Beijing) was one of the great masters of the Beijing School of the late nineteenth century. He effectively founded the school by taking what had become a decorative art form during the mid-nineteenth century and returning it to the high artistic standards of its birth in the last years of the eighteenth century. By doing so he became immensely popular and was immediately emulated by dozens of other painters who took up the art, mostly following his style at first, and many of the lesser ones unscrupulously usurping his name on their lesser works in order to try to fill the demand which he had created for his paintings but could obviously not satisfy alone. He maintained the highest artistic standards throughout his career, never becoming commercial, although he was a professional painter, and drawing upon the literati tradition of painting for his inspiration, subject matter, and style. He was also one of the finest calligraphers in the medium. He was matched in integrity combined with literati skills only by Ding Erzhong, the scholar artist who took up the art as a hobby, and in skill only by very few other, more commercially minded artists such as Ma Shaoxuan For full details of Zhou Leyuan’s career and many of his works, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles No. 4, Inside Painted This is one of his masterpieces from late in his career, in a fine crystal bottle, probably earlier, and of his typical, mature landscape style based on that of Wang Hui, the famous early Qing master who inspired Zhou. It is also in almost unused condition, which is unusual for Zhou, since he painted at a time when snuff taking was still a widespread habit and most of his bottles were used to some extent. A similar unused bottle by the same artist may be found in The Water, Pine Stone Retreat Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, cat. no. 21.5.213, e-yaji.com Ω This Lot was imported from outside of the UK, under the Temporary Admission regime 5% import VAT will be charged on the ‘hammer” and 20% VAT will be charged on the ‘buyer’s premium