A white jade snuff bottle with "wrapped qin" design, Qianlong mark, bottle 1720-1800. 2 1/8in (5.3cm) high. Pre-sale est. $10,000-15,000. Photo: Bonhams.

NEW YORK, NY.-Bonhams will be participating in Asia Week 2012, which brings together a variety of art outlets to celebrate Asian art from China, India, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. Bonhams will highlight this week with three previews and auctions located at its New York headquarters at 580 Madison.

On March 20th at 10am Bonhams will host a sale of Fine Chinese snuff bottles, featuring over one hundred fifty bottles primarily drawn from three private collections: the collection of Dr. Martin Roshco, the collection of Mrs. Fay Plohn, and the collection of Dr. Edward A. Kopinitz. The Asia Week sale follows successful single owner sales of Chinese snuff bottles at Bonhams New York galleries in March 2010 and 2011. Among the anticipated highlights are several bottles produced at the Imperial Palace workshops, carved agate and jade examples, rarely seen forms in porcelain, as well as snuff bottles that have been enameled on gold, copper and glass. 

A splendidly carved rock crystal double gourd form snuff bottle (lot 8, est. $25,000-35,000) dating from the eighteenth century is one such bottle that was likely to have been produced by artisans working under the aegis of the emperor. Carved with floral motifs in low relief on the exterior, the interior is incredibly well-hollowed, almost perfectly matching the exterior shape. The dexterity and high degree of refined craftsmanship are an indication of the Imperial studios working at the apex.

A double gourd form carved rock crystal snuff bottle. Imperial, Beijing Palace workshops, 1720-1800. Photo: Bonhams.

Of compressed double gourd form, with a flat lip and a concave foot, the interior extremely well-hollowed, the exterior sides carved with floral motifs, the front and back both carved with the characters da ji 'Great Auspiciousness.'  2 1/2in (6.6cm) high. Estimate: US$25,000 - 35,000 

水晶刻大吉葫蘆鼻煙壺
京派, 御製, 十八世紀

Provenance:  Christie's, New York, March 21, 1997 lot 244

Property of Dr. Martin Roshco

A popular decorative motif in Chinese material culture, the double gourd carries allusions to longevity as a hollowed gourd would be worn by a figure carrying the elixir of immortality. Double gourds were also a frequently used form for snuff bottles and the skill of interior hollowing would challenge even the most talented craftsman. This bottle is exceptionally well-hollowed, with the interior matching the exterior form.

An incredibly rare Dehua ware figural form snuff bottle (lot 24, est. $12,000-18,000) offers buyers a tremendous opportunity to own a bottle of both unusual form and material. With only one other extent bottle in Dehua ware published, this bottle takes the form of a standing young scholar cradling a tablet. Whereas Dehua wares were produced in the coastal province of Fujian, the majority of porcelain wares were produced at Jingdezhen. A molded snuff bottle with overglaze enamels (lot 50, est. $6,000-9,000) is one of several examples offered in the sale from the Jingdezhen kilns. Produced when the region around Jingdezhen was threatened the Taiping rebellion, the foot of the bottle is not marked with the name of the imperial reign as was the custom, but rather the more vague sentiment “Made in the Official Kilns” claiming allegiance to neither the sitting emperor nor the usurper.

An incredibly rare Dehua ware figural snuff bottle, 1750-1850. Photo: Bonhams

Of figural form, of a young scholar, with an opening at the crown of his head, his arms cradling a tablet reading san yuan(a reference to successfully passing all levels of the imperial examinations) with flowing robes, his feet unglazed. 3in (7.5cm) high. Estimate: US$12,000 - 18,000 

瓷胎德化人物鼻煙壺

Provenance: : E & J Frankel, New York, 1986 

Property of Dr. Martin Roshco

See Robert Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, vol 1, for the only other known bottle in Dehua ware.

An imperial molded porcelain snuff bottle, Jingdezhen, 1851-1865. Photo: Bonhams

Of a flattened ovoid form, with a flat gilt lip, the body with a continuous scene of a dragon chasing a flaming pearl, the molded dragon and clouds painted in bright overglaze enamels, with a four characterGuanyao Neizao "Made in the Official Kilns" mark in iron red on the recessed foot. 2 1/4in (5.9cm) high. Estimate: US$6,000 - 9,000 

御製瓷胎模製龍紋鼻煙壺

景德鎮

Provenance: : Sotheby's, London, December 3, 1997, lot 460 

C.B. Dix Collection

Property of Dr. Martin Roshco

Several bottles of this type have been sold and illustrated. For example see Moss et al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, the J & J Collection, volume 1, no 241.

An agate bottle from the late 18th to early 19th century (lot 19, est. $12,000-18,000) also tells a historical tale, with one face of the bottle deftly carved with a scene from the epic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a 14th century novel based on events from the 2nd and 3rd centuries. China’s long history is more profoundly underscored with a spade form white jade bottle (lot 140, est. $5,000-7,000). Inscribed on the front in back in both seal and regular script taken from bronze and jade vessels, the bottle is a testament to the flourishing archaeology movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, when Chinese scholars sought to trace the deepest roots of the culture through early inscriptions.

A carved agate snuff bottle with two figures at gate. Official School, 1780-1850. Photo: Bonhams

Of compressed ovoid form with a flat lip and wide mouth, with an oval foot rim surrounding a recessed base, the interior very well-hollowed, one side of the exterior finely carved to show a figure sweeping outside a city gate while a gentleman plays the qin above. 2 3/8in (5.9cm high. Estimate: US$12,000 - 18,000 

瑪瑙刻空城計鼻煙壺

頒賜類

Provenance:  Ashkenzie & Co, San Francisco, 1990

Former Jack Rose Collection

The scene on the bottle is a reference to "the undefended city" chapter in the epic novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Under pressure from Cao Cao's troops, Zhuge Liang opened the city gate leaving only a sweeper out front while he watched from above plucking a qin. A similarly decorated bottle in the Victoria and Albert Museum dated 1750-1895 is illustrated in Helen WhiteSnuff Bottles from China, p. 48, no 4.

A white jade bottle with inscriptions in seal and regular script, 1820-1880.  Photo: Bonhams

Of flattened spade form with a flat lip, a very well-hollowed interior and a concave base, the exterior front and back each inscribed with a long inscription in seal script and the corresponding text in regular script, the foot inscribed with three characters reading gu yu tu (ancient jade picture.); 2 3/4in (7cm) high. Estimate: US$5,000 - 7,000

白玉雙面刻銘文鼻煙壺 

Provenance:  purchased from Robert Hall

Property of Dr. Edward A. Kopinitz

The decoration of this bottle is inspired by the 18th and 19th century epigraphy movement (Jinshi xue) that sought to rediscover the origins of the Chinese language and roots of Confucianism through historical texts inscribed on archaeological bronze vessels and stone stelae. Scholars would collate the inscriptions in compendia of texts, perhaps best exemplified by Ruan Yuan's (1764-1849) Jiguzhai zhong ding yi qi kuan shi. On this bottle, the inscriptions from a bronze ding vessel (Bogai ding)and a Shang dynasty jade tablet are transcribed in both the original seal script and regular script.

An agate bottle, dated 1821-1872, also featuring theBogai ding inscription, is illustrated in the Au Hang collection of Chinese snuff bottles no. 157, p. 120

Enameled snuff bottles will be featured throughout the sale, with outstanding examples in glass and copper, as well as an enameled bottle on 18k gold with an accompanying gold stand (lot 90, $15,000-25,000). The sale will also feature inside-painted bottles, with artists taking advantage of glass, rock crystal and agate canvases to render their improbably created scenes. Bottles painted by masters of the craft such as Ye Xiaofeng (lot 103, est. $1,000-1,500) and Zhou Leyuan (lot 117, est. $1,500-2,500) are among those that will be offered. 

A European subject enameled snuff bottle with gold stand, 1960's.  Photo: Bonhams

Of flattened circular form, enamels on 18k gold, with a flat gold lip with an everted outer mouth rim, a gold oval foot rim surrounding a slightly recessed foot, the body with famille-rose enamels painted on one side with a portrait of a European lady in three-quarters profile, her upswept hair revealing a slightly downcast face and rosy cheeks, reversed by a second portrait of a European lady, also portrayed in three-quarters perspective gazing into the distance, both vignettes enclosed by elaborate scrolling borders, the rounded sides and neck painted to depict a lush array of flowers and foliate scrolls, a lappet band painted to the base, the foot inscribedQianlong nianzhi in blue enamel on a white ground, with a fitted gold stand in the form of two intertwined dragons. 2in (5cm) high. Estimate: US$15,000 - 25,000 

銅胎畫琺瑯西洋人物鼻煙壺及金底座 

1960年代 

Provenance:  Florence Ueltzen, Fu-Ming-Fair, October 1969 

Property of Mrs. Fay Plohn

An inside-painted rock crystal snuff bottle, Ye Xiaofeng (1900-1974). Photo: Bonhams

Of rectangular form, the sides faceted, bearing a slightly concave lip an oval foot rim surrounding a slightly recessed foot, one side painted to depict a woman standing at a painting table, reversed by a depiction of a seated woman playing a qin, bearing an inscription reading "At the capital, Ye Xiaofeng created" followed by a painted red seal. 2 5/8in (6.7cm) high. Estimate: US$1,000 - 1,500 

水晶內畫美人鼻煙壺 

葉曉峰 (1900-1974) 

Provenance:  Florence Ueltzen, Fu-Ming-Fair, October 12, 1969

Property of Mrs. Fay Plohn

A nearly identical image in a bottle by Ye Xiaofeng and dated 1958 is illustrated in ICSBS Journal Spring 1985, p. 102, fig 291.

An inside-painted glass snuff bottle, Zhou Leyuan. Photo: Bonhams

Of rounded rectangular form, with a flat lip and an oval foot rim surrounding a convex foot, one side painted to depict a lone figure crossing a bridge amid a mountainous setting, bearing an inscription reading "painted at the capital, Zhou Leyuan", the reverse decorated as a scene of a horse and a tree. 2 1/2in (6.2cm) high. Estimate: US$1,500 - 2,500  

玻璃內畫人物鼻煙壺 

周樂元 

Provenance:  Florence Ueltzen, Fu-Ming-Fair, October 1969 

Property of Mrs. Fay Plohn 

With strong provenance being a key point for many collectors in today’s market, snuff bottles that once belonged to important collectors such as Frederick Von Shleinitz (lot 4, est. $3,000-5,000), Eric Young (lot 10, est. $10,000-15,000), Vad Jelton (lot 110, est. $1,000-1,500), Bob Stevens (lot 152, est. $3,000-5,000), and the Mei Ling collection (lot 153, est. $4,000-6,000) are sure to inspire bidders.

A rare imperial glasswork yellow snuff bottle, 1696-1750. Photo: Bonhams

Of flattened circular form, with a flat and wide mout, its oval foot rim surrounding a slightly recessed foot, two raised concentric panels to the front and back, the edges of the bottle ribbed as if in imitation of bamboo, the bottle an evenminghuang "imperial yellow" tone. 2in (5cm) high. Estimate: US$3,000 - 5,000 

黃料磨楞竹節鼻煙壺

Provenance:  Sotheby's New York, March 17, 1997 lot 4

Frederick Von Schleinitz Collection

Property of Dr. Martin Roshco

The Chinese Snuff Bottle auction will be on preview at the New York headquarters of Bonhams from March 15-19.