Property from a distinguished Asian private collection (Lots 368-396)






A fine white and black jade snuff bottle


Qing DynastyDeftly carved around the exterior with a continuous scene of a scholar gazing up at the pine trees, beside him a boy-attendant prepares a jar of wine, all amidst craggy cliffs issuing lingzhi fungi, further along a tavern with a sign advertising wine, the stone dominated with charcoal black and cast with white and grey. 5.9cm (2 3/8in) high.
|ProvenanceA distinguished Asian private collectionThe present lot, in black, grey and white jade is typical of the Suzhou school of carving. For a further example of Suzhou school carving of a black and white jade snuff bottle, see H.Moss, V.Graham and K.B.Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection, Vol.1, Weatherhill, 1993, p.71, no.25. The exquisite carving of a scholar drinking wine while gazing up at the sky and the moon, implies that the subject is the famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai (李白), one of whose favourite activities was the drinking of wine. On the reverse of the snuff bottle is a tavern with the character for wine (jiu 酒) hanging outside. Further to the right on the cliff is a poetic inscription in cursive calligraphy that reads: '醉月春曉', which may be translated as 'The drunken moon in spring dawn'. A related black and white jade snuff bottle with a figure of a scholar drinking under a pine tree, late Qing Dynasty, was sold in our San Francisco Rooms, 13 December 2010, lot 5046.