Footnotes

Treasury 2, no. 217


黑髮晶鼻煙壺


The Count Blucher Rainbow Hair Crystal

Crystal with inclusions of tourmaline; very well hollowed with a concave lip and flat foot.

1720–1860
Height: 6.1 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.59/2.02 and 2.01 (slightly oval)
Stopper: stained crystal with integral finial and collar.
Condition: workshop condition

Provenance:
Sydney L. Moss Ltd.
Cyril Green
Hugh Moss
Kurt Graf Blucher von Wahlstatt (Count Blucher)
Hugh M. Moss Ltd.
Heflene Collection (T. E. Gover and V. Meglys)
Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (1985)
Published:
Moss 1971, p. 11, fig. 15
Moss 1971a, p. 83, no. 87
Kleiner 1995, no. 140
Galleries Lafayette 1990, p. 13
Kleiner 1994a, p. 47
Treasury 2, no. 217, and front and back covers of one volume
Exhibited:
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, October 1987
Galeries Lafayette, Paris, April 1990
Creditanstalt, Vienna, May–June 1993

Commentary
Quite apart from its other qualities as a snuff bottle, this material is as exciting as any known in hair-crystal, not only because of the rich variation in the thickness and distribution of the tourmaline crystals or hairs, but because of the strong iridescence created by light refraction where flaws have created microscopic chasms in the crystal. The combination of different sizes and shapes of tourmaline needles and their irregular density of distribution, combined with this iridescence, allows enormous potential in the delightful game of interpreting the random markings as representational subject matter. Bats flying low over the surface of rippling water at sunset and fish swimming beneath it are only two of endless possibilities.


This celebrated hair-crystal (see discussion on material under Treasury 2, no. 193 for the material) is of a delightful form. With a plain and supremely elegant formal statement of this type, an appropriate stopper is vitally important. This is one of a small group of ideal shapes for this type of neck with its sharply flared profile. It resembles the shape of the summer hat which was official regalia at court during the Qing dynasty, hence the name we have coined for it, 'official's-hat' stopper. (Click here to see the Qianlong emperor's summer hat from 1778.) It may not have been directly based upon it, however, since similar small stoppers for containers are known in centuries-old excavations, long predating the introduction of this type of hat as part of official regalia. Although the form is known to exist earlier, it might still have become popular, or even been based upon such hats in the Qing dynasty, which was noted for breaking with the past in matters of court dress. What could have been more natural than adapting the crowning glory of a purely Qing and initially, predominantly imperial art form to match the court hat of the emperor and officials who dominated it during the early years of its evolution? These stoppers are well suited to a number of snuff-bottle forms, but none more ideally than those with flared necks. The flare of the neck takes the visual energy sharply outwards at the neck and this must be balanced by bringing it sharply inwards again without undue depth, otherwise the neck appears heavy and clumsy. Imagine the effect of combining this form with a deep, straight-sided, flat-topped stopper and the importance of the stopper in matching the form becomes obvious, as does the suitability of these official's-hat stoppers for flared necks. Here, the slightly vertical elongation of the sphere and the flaring of the neck draw visual energy upwards and outwards, which is then returned inwards and contained in the shallow, lipped bulge of the stopper. As a rule the rounded finial tends to return this energy, leading the eye back again to the bottle itself, although in this case an unusual, pointed finial also allows for the energy to extend beyond the form to point upward and by so doing, perhaps to emphasize the source of artistic energy as seen by the Chinese in the metaphor of heaven, representing an omnipotent and omnipresent spiritual source. A usual function for these finials is to maintain the visual energy and keep the eye in motion, returning it to the work of art which, in turn takes up the dance. The eye is kept intrigued as it is continuously moved around the work of art, and the kinetic energy of the sum-total of the languages involved is kept continuously dynamic.


布呂歇爾伯爵珍藏之帶虹彩色的髮晶煙壺

黑髮晶；掏膛非常完整，凹面唇、平底足

1720～1860
高：6.1 厘米
口經/唇經：0.59/2.02、 2.01 厘米（微橢圓形）
蓋：染色水晶，與座、頂飾為一體
狀態敘述: 出坊狀況

來源：
Sydney L. Moss Ltd
Cyril Green
莫士撝
庫爾特．布呂歇爾．馮．華爾斯達脫（伯爵）Kurt Blücher von Walhstatt (Graf)
Hugh M. Moss Ltd
Heflene 珍藏（T. E. Gover與 V. Meglys）
Hugh M. Moss Ltd (1985)

文獻：
Moss 1971, 頁11，圖15
Moss 1971a, 頁83，編號87
Galeries Lafayette 1990, 頁13
Kleiner 1994a, 頁47
Kleiner 1995，編號140
Treasury 2，編號217與第一冊前後封面

展覽：
Sydney L. Moss Ltd，倫敦，1987年10 月
Galeries Lafayette，巴黎，1990年4月
Creditanstalt，維也納，1993年5月至6月

說明：
本壺的材料比得上所有現存的髮晶煙壺。其黑碧璽條粗幻度變幻無窮然而錯落有致，水晶中精微的缺口折射出虹彩的色彩，讓人暢想其中的圖像，如夕陽水紋蝙蝠過，又如微波潛魚避流光。

這件煙壺形式優雅，那麼素淨淡雅的壺身非配上合適的蓋子不可。這個蓋的形狀與外撇口頸很相配，因為它像清朝官帽，我們稱之為"官帽蓋"。類似的蓋子遠在清朝更改了中國歷代的官服前已經出現，有出土之器為證。所謂"官帽蓋"到了清朝就特別流行，因為鼻煙和鼻煙壺最初是滿清朝廷享用的。官帽蓋適合多種煙壺形式，而配上外撇口頸的煙壺特別理想。短頸外撇突出的部分與蓋子向內的收縮部分彼此相稱，也可以說，稍向上引伸的扁平球體和外撇的口頸都使壺形的氣勢向上向外放射，蓋子就把這個氣勢收入從座隆起的形式。一般圓形的頂飾也助長全體氣勢，而這件蓋子的尖頂卻指向天空， 或許是暗示創作力量的根源。