Footnotes

Treasury 7, no. 1531


黑漆刻圖刻銘鼻煙壺
子餘，即文濤（？），1800～1930


Shaopu's Longevity and Blessings

Black lacquer on an unidentified ground; with a flat lip and recessed concave foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim; engraved on one main side with a scene of Dongfang Shuo holding a gnarled walking staff, with an enormous peach resting against his upper back, gazing at a flying bat emerging from the clouds upon which he stands, inscribed with the title in seal script Fushou tu (Picture of Happiness and Longevity) followed by one seal of the engraver, yin (seal), the other main side inscribed with a poem in clerical script, preceded in a combination of running and regular scripts by a dedication to Shaopu and followed by the signature, Ziyu di Tao (Tao, a junior, alias Ziyu) followed by one seal of the artist, Wen(?), the foot inscribed in slightly cursive, regular script, Shaopu zhi (made for Shaopu)
Ziyu, Wen Tao(?), 1800–1930
Height: 5.6 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.92/2.1 cm
Stopper: stained ivory; silver collar engraved with a design of leiwen (thunder pattern)
Condition: chip in lacquer on footrim revealing the layer beneath, 0.67 cm. long; almost invisible tiny bruise-crack on the outer lip, and very small abrasion also to outer lip; otherwise, usual surface abrasion through use; apart from the chip in the foot, none of it obtrusive. General relative condition: very good

Provenance:
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd. (1985)

Published:
Treasury 7, no. 1531

Commentary:
Many Chinese scholars were seal-carvers, capable of making their own compositions of seal-text to be impressed on paintings, letters, and other documents. Many different scripts were used for these seals, but most were in various forms of seal script - of which many were reasonably well known to the literati. This was a highly respected art form in China where the best of seal carvers were considered equal to the best painters and calligraphers. Indeed, one of the most famous and influential painters and calligraphers of the twentieth century, Qi Baishi, (1864–1957), considered himself a seal-carver first, and a painter and calligrapher second. The art involved mastery of the 'iron-brush,' the steel or iron carving blades of the seal-carver which, in the hands of a master, were capable of being wielded with a good deal of the same fluency as a brush on paper. Such seal-carvers if painters and calligraphers as well, and nearly all were calligraphers by necessity, could also, of course, turn their hand to painting and writing with the iron brush. Some of the most intriguing snuff bottles in our collections today were produced by them, primarily in the second half of the Qing dynasty when the habit of snuffing spread far beyond the court and it became fashionable for the literati to become involved in making their own snuff bottles. For a range of literati coconut-shell snuff bottles, see Treasury 7, nos. 1487-1493, although the Bloch Collection is rich with examples in many other media.

This magnificent lacquer bottle sums up the art admirably. The picture of Dongfang Shuo on clouds would be impressive as an ink-painting, with its composition, confidence, and well-modulated lines as the 'iron-brush' was twisted and turned, and pressure upon it varied to carve continuous, lively strokes. The calligraphy, in various scripts, is also totally confident and suggests a master calligrapher.

One of the delights of these literati snuff bottles is the picture they offer of a circle of artistic friends enjoying lofty pursuits. Frequently more than one member of the circle is identified, as scholars worked together to produce works of art. In this case Shaopu probably instigated the work of art, since it was made for him, and Wen Tao (if we have correctly deciphered the seal), alias Ziyu, was asked by Shaopu to compose a poem to complement the picture engraved on one side. The social status of Ziyu is made clear by the latter's use of the character di in signing his name. Di means literally 'younger brother' but is used in signatures to acknowledge lower social rank as well as age. Multiple names involved on a variety of literati bottles are beginning to provide us with a rich picture of the involvement of scholars in producing their own snuff bottles, particularly in the second half of the Qing dynasty. Unfortunately, with this little gem, neither of the participants can be traced.

The poem reads:

Through prolonged alchemical experiments [he] succeeded
In producing a supreme pill of immortality.
With this objective fulfilled and [his] conduct also perfected,
On the day [he] was seen flying up [to the sky],
Strange looking peas were scattered all over the valleys.

Depicted is the legendary Dongfang Shuo, but this interpretation of his achievements is a somewhat personal, poetic version from a Qing scholar (for the entertaining legend of Dongfang Shuo, see under Treasury 7, no. 1622).

Lacquer can be built up on a variety of surfaces since it is a viscous, plastic material which adheres easily. A wooden base was one popular standard, as was bronze or brass, and pewter was also used (see Treasury 7, no. 1540, and Lu Dong, discussed under Treasury 7, nos. 1534-1537, is known to have lacquered pewter teapots - Treasury 7, no. 1536 is a snuff bottle by him on a pewter base). Some of the lighter-weight lacquers of Fuzhou, dealt with under Treasury 7, nos. 1521-1530, were made with lacquer-soaked textiles. On some lighter lacquered wares, whether on wood or textile, there is also an obvious under-layer of some thick, composition, probably also a mixture of some compound and lacquer (again, Lu Dong was well known for his sand-lacquer inkstones, where he combined lacquer with other materials, and for his lacquer surfaces suffused with tiny grains, or chips of ivory, metal, and other materials). Since the upper layer of all these wares tends to be lacquer, unless a footrim or lip reveals the different material beneath, it is often difficult if not impossible to judge how it was constructed. Here a small chip at the foot reveals an inner layer of composition, but we can only guess what lies beneath it.
Shaopu's identity remains undiscovered. Zhang Boying (1871–1949) had this sobriquet, and he was a highly respected calligrapher and member of the Beijing arts community. But his life is certainly too late to be associated with this snuff bottle. As for Wen Tao, there are so many people with the given name of Wentao (same characters) who spring up in response to any electronic search that this, too, must be a matter for deferred research.



少圃福壽

黑漆，胎骨用材不明；平唇、凹形斂底、突出平底圈足；一正面刻東方朔背負著巨大的仙桃，倚杖而望足下之雲氣飄浮而去，有篆題"福壽圖"，下刻"印"一印，另一正面刻"久練大丹成，功圓行亦足，白日見飛昇，異豆偏山谷"，其前刻 "少圃仁兄大人雅正"，其後刻 "子餘弟濤"與"文" （？）篆印，底刻"少圃製"三字款

子餘，文濤（？），1800～1930
高：5.6 厘米
口經/唇經：0.92/2.10 厘米
蓋：染象牙，刻雷紋銀座
狀態敘述：圈足有0.67厘米長的缺口，露出下一層，唇緣有幾乎看不見的缺口和微小的撞傷，此外，因累年觸摸而呈現一般性的磨損；一般相對的狀態：很好

來源：
Hugh Moss (HK), Ltd (1985)
文獻﹕
Treaury 7， 編號1531

說明：
"執刀如執筆，刻字若寫字"，本壺其證也。十九世紀後半，越來越多的文人學士拿起鐵筆來，在椰殼鼻煙壺和其他材料鼻煙壺上刻字繪畫，普遍度不亞於"宣紙徽墨端硯湖筆"的書畫。

少圃是誰，我們還沒確定。張伯英（1871—1949）號少圃，常與齊白石等名流往還。不僅精於文史，也是蜚聲藝壇的書法家，他書法宗尚北碑。問題是，要說這類煙壺是他晚年製成的，有點不對勁兒。至於子餘是誰，更缺線索；而且，姓某名文濤的人不勝枚舉，要找姓文名濤的人， 太耽誤事了。待考。