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Expert’s note: The work of the artistic genius ‘Cameo Ink-play Master’ is analyzed and discussed in detail by Hugh Moss, Victor Graham, and Ka Bo Tsang in A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, volume 2, numbers 319-325. With the aid of these examples, it becomes quite clear that a single hand is at work, as the group exhibits stylistic motifs which are highly individualistic and do not appear on most cameo agate-style bottles. All these characteristics are apparent on the present bottle. It is remarkably well hollowed and polished on the exterior to a magnificent gloss. There is a whitish inclusion on the front which is skillfully used to depict the face. All areas of colored material have been incorporated into the design. Other areas of the design are carved directly onto the colorless ground. Two signature motifs are present in the current snuff bottle: the single brown prunus blossom (see ibidem, number 319), and the use of a horizontal band of color near the neck to depict part of a branch in the manner of a brushstroke (see ibidem, number 325).
China, Beijing, 1770-1860. Of ovoid shape supported on a well-carved foot rim, finely carved to the front with Huang Chenyen riding a donkey, followed by a boy attendant carrying a spray of prunus. The reverse carved with a bird swooping towards a prunus branch, with a smaller spray on the neck.
Provenance: Robert Kleiner & Co. Ltd., London, United Kingdom, 2002. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. A copy of the original invoice from Robert Kleiner & Co. Ltd., dated 25 November 2002, describing the present lot as a chalcedony snuff bottle, confirming the attribution to the Cameo Ink-play Master and the dating above, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of GBP 6,000 or approx. EUR 15,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Robert Kleiner (1948-2014) was an important expert of Chinese snuff bottles, beginning his lengthy career at the Sotheby’s Chinese Art department in London. Along with Hugh Moss and Bob Hall, he became a key advisor to the Mary and George Bloch collection, and it was Robert who wrote and produced the very first catalog of their bottles.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor old wear and microscopic nibbling to exposed areas, possibly inherent to carving. The stone with natural fissures and inclusions.
Stopper: Carnelian
Weight: 97.7 g
Dimensions: Height 77 mm, Diameter neck 21 mm and mouth 8.5 mm
Huang Chengyan was a reclusive scholar who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. He was known for being carefree and open-minded. He is also a minor character in the 14th century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which romanticizes the historical events before and during the Three Kingdoms period. He first appeared in Chapter 37 when Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were visiting the house of Zhuge Liang, a chancellor and regent of the state of Shu Han who married Huang’s daughter. He appeared then again in Chapter 84 after the Battle of Xiaoting, in which he led Lu Xun out of Zhuge Liang's Stone Sentinel Maze.
The subject of a sage on a donkey, sometimes followed by an attendant holding a branch of prunus, has been variously interpreted. Ka Bo Tsang has noted that this particular figure could also be the Tang-dynasty scholar, poet and recluse Meng Haoran, who was reputed to have admired prunus blossoms. For further discussion, see Ka Bo Tsang, ‘Who is the Rider on the Donkey?’, Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Summer 1994, pages 4-16, fig. 14. Another possibility is that the figure represents the 5th century poet Lu Kai, from the Song State (420-479) of the Southern Dynasties period, who is shown travelling in Jiangnan accompanied by his attendant who carries a branch of prunus blossoms. Lu sends these blossoms hundreds of miles north to his friend, the historian Fan Ye (398-445) in Chang'an, with a poem, the last line of which reads: 'I send you merely a branch of spring'.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 28 November 2011, lot 11
Price: HKD 644,000 or approx. EUR 104,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A dendritic agate ‘Lu Shang’ snuff bottle, the Cameo Ink-play Master, possibly imperial, official school, 1770-1860
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner and style of carving, see also expert’s note above for further details. Note that this bottle is also attributed to the Cameo Ink-play Master.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 May 2013, lot 103
Price: HKD 250,000 or approx. EUR 37,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An agate ‘monk’ snuff bottle, possibly imperial, official school, Qing dynasty, late 18th/19th century
Expert remark: Compare the related stone and manner of carving. Note that this bottle is also attributed to the Cameo Ink-play Master.
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