Bonhams 1793 : An inside-painted glass 'Qiao sisters' snuff bottle Ma Shaoxuan, circa 1900

24 Nov 2012 10:00 CST Hong Kong
The Paul Braga Collection of Snuff Bottles
Back to auction 20524

An inside-painted glass 'Qiao sisters' snuff bottle

Ma Shaoxuan, circa 1900
Of rectangular form, beautifully painted with two female figures sitting side-by-side on a chair, the reverse with a series of kaishu inscriptions with signature and seal mark of the artist.
5.8cm high.

Sold for HK$ 225,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

Exhibited:
Chinese Snuff Bottles, jointly presented by Hong Kong Chinese Snuff Bottle Collectors Study Group and the Urban Council, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 15 October to 26 November 1977

Illustrated:
Paul Braga, Hong Kong Chinese Snuff Bottle Collectors, Arts of Asia, November-December 1976, p.84
Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1977, p.113, pl.275

Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939), based in Beijing, specialised in portrait bottles, especially historical figures and actors. His bottles usually have one side of painting, the reverse with calligraphy. He was inspired by the composition of the Qiao Sisters, which originally derived from a woodblock print. For comparisons between Ma's artworks and woodblock print examples, see Gayle Gray Laverlochère, Romance of the Three Kingdoms source of Snuff Bottle Subjects, JICSBS, Spring 1988, p.12.

For another inside-painted 'Qiao sisters' snuff bottle example by Ma Shaoxuan, dated to 1901 in the Mary and George Bloch collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham and Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol.4, Inside-Painted, Hong Kong, 2000, pp.392-393, no.586, was sold in these rooms, 28 November 2011, lot 40.

約1900 馬少宣玻璃內畫喬家姊妹鼻煙壺

展覽:
香港中國鼻煙壺收藏家學會、香港市政局聯辦，《中國鼻煙壺》，香港藝術館，1977年10月15日至11月26日

出版:
Paul Braga, 《Hong Kong Chinese Snuff Bottle Collectors》, Arts of Asia, 1976年11-12月, 頁84。
《中國鼻煙壺》，香港藝術館，香港，1977年，頁113，圖版275

壺呈扁方瓶形，直頸，橢圓形圈足。壺一面內畫喬家姊妹坐在長椅上閱讀，畫風簡潔。另一面以秀麗的楷書寫上「伯孚仁兄大人屬喬家姊妹共觀書，都嫁英雄美丈夫。如此良宵慵不寐，卿卿也愛讀陰符。馬少宣。」，並畫有「少宣」白文篆書橢圓印。

馬少宣(1867-1939) ，京派內畫大師之一，多繪畫歷史人物及戲曲人物，尤以肖像畫見長，其鼻煙壺創作主要以一面內畫一面書法為主，畫工細膩，人物形神俱備，字體清秀，工整嚴謹，内涵深遠。

在《喬家姊妹》的構圖上，馬少宣從木板印刷中得到不少創作靈感，詳細對比可參見Gayle Gray Laverlochère 著，〈Romance of the Three Kingdoms source of Snuff Bottle Subjects〉一文，載於《JICSBS》，1988年春季刊，頁12。

馬少宣其他內畫「喬家姊妹」之例子及研究，可參考《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，第4冊，編號586，後拍賣於2011年11月28日，香港邦瀚斯，瑪莉與莊智博鼻煙壺珍藏:第四部份，拍品編號40。