Footnotes

• Treasury 1, no. 143
  
  白玉帶皮葫蘆紋鼻煙壺
  卵石皮浮雕師流派，1740～1850
  
  A nephrite pebble-material 'gourd vine' snuff bottle
  
  Nephrite of pebble material; very well hollowed, with a recessed foot; carved on one side with nine double gourds growing on a vine, a flaw on one shoulder extending onto the lower neck carved as a trailing vine and on the other with two squirrels on a grape vine, with another flaw in a similar position also carved as a trailing vine, the narrow sides with mask-and-ring handles
  Master of the Rocks school, 1740–1850
  Height: 6.04 cm
  Mouth/lip: 0.50 cm/1.75 cm
  Stopper: jadeite; silver collar
  
  Condition: Minute nibbles on side of the foot base; tiny chip in the base of the neck; some possible damage to the tendrils of the gourds on the top left; otherwise, workshop condition
  
  Provenance:
  Rare Art (New York, 1979)
  Gerd Lester (1986)
  
  Published:
  Lester 1981, p. 34, middle row, right
  Kleiner 1987, no. 50
  Treasury 1, no. 143
  
  Exhibited:
  Sydney L. Moss Ltd, London, October 1987
  Creditanstalt, Vienna, May–June 1993
  
  At first glance, this bottle would appear to have very little to do with the group for which we have coined the name the Master of the Rocks school (see, for example, lot 50 in Sale 3), mainly because the material and subject matter are not characteristic. But although the colour of the pebble-material is unusual for the school, its use is not. The form was a popular one for the broader group, with its slightly rounded rectangular shape and relief on one or both main sides. The pebble skin is also employed to great effect as a main decorative element on one side, which is common enough for certain wares of the school, and stylistically there are sufficient similarities for an entirely confident attribution. The bottle is of excellent formal integrity although rather more rectangular than is normal for the school. It is very well hollowed through a narrow mouth, which is not only common for this school but also suggests that its main output was from the Qianlong era, when this feature seems to have been particularly popular.
  
  What cements the attribution, however, is the style of the mask handles. The masks have ears that are of the distinctive style found on those bottles of this school that have mask-and-ring handles, long and drooping. The masks here also have a strong individual personality.
  
  Both main surfaces are extremely well conceived and carved, which is again standard for the school, with the use of the skin particularly brilliant. It has been suggested that the skin is stained, but in fact there is no indication of this, and it would, in any case, be unusual for this school if it were (although a few are stained). The entirely natural-looking skin is miraculously used to show the nine double gourds mostly in a pale colour set against a darker vine, and it is perhaps this extraordinary and painterly use of the material that led to the belief that it might have been achieved by staining. It is certainly difficult to imagine how the artist could have achieved so stunning an effect without the aid of artificial colour, but with this school unusually artistic use of the natural material is standard.
  
  白玉帶皮葫蘆紋鼻煙壺
  
  卵石料; 掏膛非常規整, 斂底 ; 一正面俏色巧作九個細腰葫蘆，一正面加兩隻松鼠，側面雕獸首啣環耳
  卵石皮浮雕師流派，1740–1850
  高﹕ 6.04 厘米
  口徑/唇徑： 0.50 厘米/1.75 厘米
  蓋﹕ 翡翠；銀座
  
  狀態敘述：底邊呈微乎其微的咬痕，頸下部有微小的缺口，上左的葫蘆或有損耗；此外，出坊狀態
  
  來源:
  Rare Art (New York, 1979)
  Gerd Lester (1986)
  
  文獻﹕
  Lester 1981, p. 34, 中列，右
  Kleiner 1987, 編號 50
  Treasury 1, 編號 143
  
  展覽﹕
  Sydney L. Moss Ltd，倫敦，1987年10月
  Creditanstalt, 維也納， 1993年5月～6月
  
  關於卵石皮浮雕師流派，參見 第三場拍賣會拍賣品號 50。本壺的玉料和主題不是那個流派經常選用的，但是造型、俏色巧作、以及雕法都是那個流派的標準。像很多乾隆時期的玉石鼻煙壺一樣，口小，而掏膛非常規整 。本壺的獸首啣環節耳也是卵石皮浮雕師流派的典型形式。

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Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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