Footnotes

Treasury 4, no. 452


水晶內畫內書鼻煙壺
甘烜文，嶺南，1810～1825

Fragrant Sleeves

Crystal, ink, and watercolours; with a concave lip and slightly recessed convex foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim; painted on one main side with a river landscape scene with a scholar strolling across a plank bridge from a country retreat, a sailboat and further buildings in the distance with mountains beyond, the upper left-hand corner inscribed with the signature, Xuan, and one illegible seal of the artist; and on the other main side with a poetic inscription in a writing style combining elements from the regular and clerical scripts with one token, and another seal of the artist, Gan
Gan Xuanwen, Lingnan, 1810–1825
Height: 5.6 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.58/1.55 cm
Stopper: coral; gilt-bronze collar
Condition: Material: some icy flaws, two of which on one narrow-side facet at the edge are possibly small bruises. Bottle: miniscule chip on inner lip; barely noticeable. Painting: Minor snuff staining but otherwise in remarkable condition


Illustration: watercolour by Peter Suart

Provenance:
Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (1979)
The Belfort Collection (1986)

Published:
JICSBS, December 1974, p.15, figs. 13 and 14
Jutheau 1980, p. 69, fig.1
JICSBS, Spring 1991, p.19, figs. 44 and 45
Kleiner 1995, no. 371
Treasury 4, no. 452
Exhibited:
British Museum, London, June–October 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July–November 1997
Christie's, London, 1999

Commentary
As we mentioned under Treasury 4, no. 451, Gan Xuanwen appears to have received a regular supply of crystal bottles and does not appear to have painted in glass at all. This is one of the more popular forms, with the rectangular shape set with a cylindrical neck and panels raised on all four sides. Variations on this shape were used frequently. Another popular form, although less common, was a hexagonal faceted bottle with a cylindrical neck (see Treasury 4, no. 455). The regular supply of a particular shape of bottle, or series of shapes, suggests that Gan had a local crystal carver who could do his bidding, perhaps a carver from Guangzhou, which was a major centre for the production of a wide range of arts and crafts during the Qing dynasty. If the supply was from a distant workshop it seems less likely that it would remain so consistent throughout his career (but see discussion under Treasury 4, no. 456 for an exception).

This lovely little painting is in the standard 'good' condition for an early Lingnan work even though the original colours have turned brownish through long contact with snuff, rendering the entire scene rather sepia in tone, the lines and washes are not scratched or otherwise worn. It is a rather similar process, although through a different agent, to the gradual browning of the ancient paper or silk of a painting. If we could see Song-dynasty paintings in their original state we would be quite surprised after all these years of gazing at them through a patina of gathering darkness. It is possible to see what the original colours were here, and we have as a guide the extraordinary condition of Treasury 4, nos. 450 and 451 to give us some idea of the studio appearance of a bottle like this. Another that has survived reasonably intact is Treasury 4, no. 457, but as a rule, the colours have become subdued by snuff over the years.

The poem reads:

[The bottle is] white as snow and clear all around.
The aroma kept in it is long-lasting.
Working on it between one's fingers and palms,
[Even] the sleeves are tainted with that wonderful fragrance.

This is again likely to be a poem by Gan himself, or one of his friends (see discussion under Treasury 4, no. 451). Snuff-taking in early nineteenth-century China was at its height, the bottles were collected and produced as art and the contents were considered to be beneficial to health, both mental and physical, thus making it an appropriate, and in the case of Gan and Yiru jushi, a popular subject for inscriptions. A possible indication that the poem was not written for this particular bottle is to be found in the description of the bottle as being 'white as snow' where the bottle is obviously colourless, but it is far more likely that this is an indication not to take Chinese poetic sources too literally, unless it refers to the roughened interior surface of the bottle to allow the colours better purchase, which gives it a frosted appearance. However, if a crystal bottle can be compared to jade (see Treasury 4, no. 450), it can certainly be described as 'white as snow' without too much stretch of an artistic imagination.

The use of the abbreviated signature, just using the first character of his given name, is unusual but not unique. When using his proper name, or at least the one that includes his family name and the name by which we know him today, he sometimes wrote it in full, sometimes used just the given name, and occasionally just the first character of the given name, as here. He also signed bottles leaving off the second character of his given name, i.e., Gan Xuan, which caused the initial confusion as to whether his name was Gan Xuan or Gan Xuanwen, a problem long since resolved in favour of the latter.

滿袖奇香

水晶、墨、水色；微凹唇、微斂凸底、突出平底圈足；一面內畫山水，上繪"烜"一款，款下繪白文一印，模糊不清；另一面內題一首絕句詩："白雪方圓潔，壺天道味長。經營耕指掌，滿袖拂奇香"，其後繪白文"甘"一印

甘烜文，嶺南，1810～1825
高：5.6 厘米
口經/唇經：0.58/1.55 厘米
蓋：珊瑚，描金銅座
狀態敘述：水晶：結冰似的瑕疵，一側沿稜的二瑕或許為撞擊痕；壺：唇內沿有微乎其微的缺口，很難辨出；內畫：呈鼻煙的隱微染色，但意外地良好

有彼德小話 (Peter Suart) 水彩畫

來源：
Hugh M. Moss Ltd, 1979年
Belfort 珍藏，1986年

文獻：
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 1974年12月、頁15 ，圖13、14
Jutheau 1980, 頁69， 圖1
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 1991年春期、頁19 ，圖44、45
Kleiner 1995, 編號371
Treasury 4, 編號452
展覽：
大英博物館, 1995年6月至11月
Israel Museum, 耶路撒冷, 1997年7 月至11月
佳士得，倫敦，1999年

說明：
看來，甘烜文繪畫的水晶煙壺的供應正常，卻從來沒畫過玻璃壺。本壺的形式是其中比較多見的：身為長方體，帶圓筒形的頸，四面為凸起的平板。這種形式的變種最普遍；六角形的也是常常見到的。有這種形式水晶煙壺的供應正常，大概是嶺南的水晶作坊給甘烜文提供的，或許是清朝重要工藝中心之一的廣州的水晶作坊。如果是離廣州比較遠的材料供應者，形式長期一貫的可能性較小。（Treasury 4, 編號456 是甘烜文內畫煙壺中形式上的獨一無二的例外。）

本壺內畫的狀況在早期嶺南作品當中來說還算是好的，雖然原色因與煙粉之長久接觸而變黃了，圖中的線條和淡水彩都沒因此而磨損。煙粉隱微染色的效果有如舊畫質地變黃變暗。題詩首句云"白雲方圓潔"，顯然是指壺內壁細細的潔白沙面。參看 Treasury 4, 編號450、451，兩件甘烜文出坊狀態的內畫鼻煙壺，可以了解到 "白雲方圓潔" 的韻味。

本壺落款只有一個"烜"字，難怪有人以為這位內畫家有單字名。甘烜文畫的內畫鼻煙壺落款時曰"甘烜文"，時曰"烜文"，時曰"烜"，時曰"甘烜"，頗令人困惑的。（提到甘烜文的論文也經常把"烜"寫成"桓"，此乃彼此傳抄、以訛傳訛的實例。）