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9 février 2017

A rare inside-painted glass snuff bottle, signed Ma Shaoxuan, circa 1900

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Lot 323. A rare inside-painted glass snuff bottle, signed Ma Shaoxuan, circa 1900. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The bottle is decorated on one side with a figure holding a staff while walking on a winding path within a mountainous landscape with tall trees and two huts. The reverse has a long inscription which incorporates a name, Fuchen, and excerpts of the poem Lou Shi Ming ('A Eulogy On My Humble Abode'), followed by the name and seal of the artist. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) high, agate stopper

Provenance: Robert Kleiner, Belfont Company Ltd., Hong Kong, 1997.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2377.

ExhibitedBoston, International Chinese Snuff Bottle Convention, The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.

NoteMa Shaoxuan (1867-1939) was one of the most technically accomplished artists of the Beijing School of snuff-bottle painting, which was founded by Zhou Leyuan and included other leading artists, such as Ding Erzhong and Ye Zhongsan.
Lou Shi Ming was written by the Tang dynasty scholar-official Liu Yuxi (772-842), and the excerpt seen on the present bottle may be translated as follows: 
'A mountain does not need to be high. It becomes known when immortals are to be found. A river does not need to be deep. It becomes enchanted when dragons are to be found. Here is my humble cottage. Through my reputation [its name spreads like] fragrance. The steps are green with scattered moss.'
Although Ma is known for his bottles with landscape scenes, the particular view depicted on the present bottle is rare. Related examples decorated with a landscape on one side and the same poem on the other also exist. Compare, a crystal bottle painted by Ma Shaoxuan in the spring of 1896, with an idyllic river-side landscape and excerpts from the same poem, with an additional sentence, illustrated by R. Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles III, p. 41, no. 25. Compare also, a glass bottle inscribed by Ma Shaoxuan in 1898 on both sides with the same poem but in its entirety, illustrated by B. C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, p. 236, no. 836, and by R. Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles XIThe Snowy Peaks Collection, no. 99. 

Christie's. The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part IV, 15 March 2017, New York, Rockefeller Center

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