212 - A CARVED SILHOUETTE AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1740-1860

A CARVED SILHOUETTE AGATE SNUFF BOTTLE OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1740-1860 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of well hollowed rounded-rectangular form with a concave lip and recessed, flat oval foot surrounded by a protruding, flat oval foot rim, the natural markings in the stone edited to form on one main side a silhouette design of a bird looking at three eggs, the other side undecorated Height: 5.6cm This bottle represents the silhouette style of agate carving. The style usually requires cutting through much of a thin plane of darker material to leave a shallow, silhouette design It falls into a group of agate bottles where the variations in colour in the stone provide all or part of the design, with or without surface editing. In a lecture before the 1996 ICSBS convention in Hong Kong, Hugh Moss proposed the term ‘ink-play’ to relate this concept in the snuff-bottle arts to principles of ink painting (reproduced JICSBS, Autumn 1997, pp. 4-16). ‘Ink-play’ in the painting tradition refers to the interpretation of random markings made by the free expression of the artist’s brush, ink, water and surface. With respect to hardstone carvings, this effect is achieved first by reading the markings as representational imagery, and second, by achieving a balance between the natural markings and subsequent enhancements by the artist. See Moss, Graham and Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 2, Quartz, no. 274 for a further discussion of this genre of snuff bottles Provenance: Sotheby’s, New York, 3rd June 1992, lot 476 (where the undecorated reverse is illustrated) Hugh M. Moss Ltd The J & J Collection Christie’s, New York, 22nd March 2007, lot 56 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 17th September 2008, (a copy of the original invoice available) Published: Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, no. 124 Exhibited: Hugh M. Moss Ltd., London, September 1974 Christie’s, London, October 1987 Christie’s, New York, 1993 Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994 Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1996-1997 Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997 Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2002 Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, 2002 National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002 International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003 Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 2003 For a discussion of this bottle, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no. 124. 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