Lot 11. An inside-painted glass 'landscape' snuff bottle. Signed Ding Erzhong, cyclically dated bingshen year corresponding to 1896; 5.7cm (2 1/4in) high. Estimate HK$ 60,000 - 80,000 (€6,900 - 9,200). Sold for HK$ 212,500 (€ 25,386). Photo: Bonhams.

Of flattened rectangular form rising from a short foot to curved shoulders, intricately decorated on one side with two travellers by a large gnarled tree amidst a mountain landscape, below a four-character kaishu inscription followed by a painted seal of the artist, the reverse with rockwork and plants beside a further series of dated kaishu inscriptions followed by the signature and a painted seal mark of the artist, with stopper (2).

Property from the Hans Goldstein Collection of Chinese Art.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 15 February 1966, lot 207
Hans Goldstein collection and thence by descent

Note: Ding Erzhong is the sobriquet of Ding Shangyu, a Qing dynasty scholar official from Tongzhou in Jiangsu Province, who was also a calligrapher, seal carver, painter and master of inside-painted snuff bottles. In addition to finding inspiration in Song, Ming and Qing dynasty paintings, his garden scenes with auspicious objects and rockwork were influenced by Zhou Leyuan.

Compare an inside-painted snuff bottle by Ding Erzhong, formerly in the Mary and George Bloch Collection, featuring a related scene of rockworks and auspicious objects on one side and a landscape scene on the reverse, also dated by inscription to bingshen year corresponding to 1896, illustrated by H.Moss, V.Graham and K.B.Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Mary and George Bloch Collection. Vol.4. Part 1. Inside Painted, Hong Kong, 2000, pp.280-282, no.542, later sold in these rooms, Snuff Bottles from the Mary and George Bloch Collection: Part II, 23 November 2010, lot 54.

BONHAMS. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 4 Jun 2015 10:30 HKT - HONG KONG, ADMIRALTY