Footnotes

• Treasury 1, no. 3
  
  閃玉卵石形鼻煙壺
  
  A nephrite pebble-material snuff bottle
  
  Nephrite of pebble material; very well hollowed
  1700-1880
  Length: 6.7 cm (measured at right angles to the lip), 6.9 cm (greatest length)
  Mouth: 0.41 cm
  Stopper: coral; gilt-silver collar
  
  Condition: small chips in and around the mouth; some natural flaws in material; collar of stopper damaged
  
  Provenance:
  Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (Hong Kong, 1992)
  
  Published:
  Kleiner 1995, no. 73
  Treasury 1, no. 3
  
  Exhibited:
  British Museum, June–October 1995
  Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997
  
  This bottle represents the purest of all pebble snuff bottles. It is both from pebble material and of pebble form, with no apparent adjustment to the shape. It is simply a natural pebble that has been hollowed out, very well in this case, and polished to reveal the colour and texture of the overall skin. Pebbles of this sort, just smoothed and left in their natural shape, represent the epitome of the tactile appeal of the material, which was a standard part of jade appreciation over the millennia.
  
  This devotion to the tactile qualities of jade meant, of course, that bottles were handled a great deal more than was necessary for the taking of snuff. Every snuff bottle that fits in the hand ideally would have been fondled as an exercise in sensuous tactility quite independent of the desire to snort its narcotic content. This resulted in often extensive and nearly always positive patination and wear on many materials. Nephrite, while hard, is not impervious to such wear, and the oils from the hand would sink into the surface, particularly of the softer skin material, creating a delightful effect discernible both by feel and by sight, imbuing the work of art with an added dimension which was impossible for the artist to produce originally, although it could be foreseen.
  
  Apart from its delightful softness in the hand, this bottle is extremely exciting visually because of its unusual texture and its rich and varied colouring, created by the natural markings in the stone, the blacker areas of which are unusual in pebble material of this type, which is essentially characterized by a white interior and a rich, russet-brown skin. These ink-like markings allow for the surface to be interpreted in a variety of different ways as representational subject matter, albeit of an abstract nature.
  
  閃玉隨形鼻煙壺
  
  卵石料； 掏膛徹底
  1700–1880
  長﹕ 6.7 厘米 (與唇面的夾角為直角而測量), 6.9 厘米 (最長處)
  口經： 0.41 厘米
  蓋： 珊瑚; 鎏金銀座
  
  狀態敘述：壺口內外呈微小的缺口；石料有自然的瑕疵；蓋座有所損害
  
  來源﹕
  Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (香港， 1992)
  
  文獻﹕
  Kleiner 1995, 編號73
  Treasury 1, 編號3
  
  展覽﹕
  大英博物館，1995年6月～10月
  Israel Museum, 耶路撒冷，1997年
  
  說明﹕
  本壺代表卵石煙壺最正派的卵煙壺。既為卵石料，亦為卵 石形。簡直是挖空而拋光的卵石，是最能體現軟玉所具有的觸覺感吸引力的。良玉煙壺，經過歲月的撫弄以後，乃更是煇然而溫，栗然而潤的，而加上這件煙壺的特殊質地與顏色（其中的暗色是籽玉罕見的），它真是玩而不膩的工藝品。
  
  
  
  
  
  

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Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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