A CHINESE CARVED PALE JADE SNUFF BOTTLE, 19TH CENTURY

拍品描述

A CHINESE CARVED PALE JADE SNUFF BOTTLE, 19TH CENTURY Of flattened rounded form, this pale jade snuff bottle is carved from a softly translucent stone of even, creamy tone, the body rising to a short cylindrical neck and fitted with a green hardstone stopper mounted with a gilt-metal collar and integral spoon. The compact proportions and gently polished surface are characteristic of 19th-century Chinese snuff bottles, objects made to be held, handled and admired at close quarters. The principal face is delicately incised with a mountainous waterscape, showing a pavilion set among rocky outcrops and pine-like foliage. The scene is rendered in fine linear cutting rather than high relief, allowing the natural luminosity of the jade to remain dominant while the engraved design animates the smooth surface. The restraint of the decoration gives the bottle a scholarly character, recalling the pictorial vocabulary of Chinese landscape painting. Snuff bottles occupied an important place in Qing material culture. Introduced in response to the courtly fashion for powdered tobacco, they quickly developed into highly refined miniature works of art, produced in jade, glass, porcelain, hardstone and other precious materials. Jade examples were especially prized for their tactile qualities, auspicious associations and long-standing connection with refinement, purity and elite taste. The landscape subject is also significant. Mountain retreats, pavilions, pine trees and water are familiar motifs in Chinese literati art, evoking seclusion, contemplation and withdrawal from worldly affairs. On a snuff bottle, such imagery transforms a functional vessel into a miniature poetic landscape, intended not merely as a container but as an object of personal cultivation and aesthetic pleasure. The contrast between the pale jade body and the rich green stopper adds a pleasing note of colour, while the gilt-metal mount provides a practical and decorative finish. Small in scale yet carefully composed, the bottle exemplifies the Qing taste for objects that combine utility, precious material, painterly allusion and intimate handling. Height: 5.8cm

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