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






A fine black jade 'Liu Hai' snuff bottle


Qing DynastyThe bottle of flattened globular form, boldly carved to one side with Liu Hai stepping forward beside the three-legged toad leaping after the string of coins, the reverse with a scholar wearing a woven wide-brimmed hat and long robes, seated atop a mule followed by a young attendant carrying a branch of prunus, the stone of a dark grey and black tone. 5.6cm (2 1/8in) high.
|ProvenanceA distinguished Asian private collectionA related black jade Suzhou snuff bottle with Liu Hai and three-legged toad, 1740-1850, is illustrated by H.Franz, Chinese Art from the Hedda and Lutz Franz Collection, Hong Kong, 2010, pp.10-13, no.1332. A black jade Suzhou snuff bottle with a related carving of the Tang poet Meng Haoran riding a donkey followed by an attendant, circa 1740-1850, is illustrated by H.Moss, V.Graham and K.B.Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection: Jade, Hong Kong, 1995, pp.328-329, no.130, and later sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 28 May 2010, lot 93.