
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in

















An inscribed agate snuff bottle 1750-1860
Sold for US$1,250 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot


Client Services (Los Angeles)

Client Services (San Francisco)
An inscribed agate snuff bottle
Very well-hollowed, of compressed spherical form, with a waisted neck, concave lip, fine oval foot ring, one of the main sides incised with a ten-character poetic inscription in two vertical lines, reading yu jian chuan hua guo, ni shang dai yue gui, followed with a Qianlong mark, framed by two faux lion mask-and-ring handles exquisitely carved in rounded relief.
2 1/4in (5.7cm) high
Footnotes
Provenance:
Pamela Martin, New York, acquired 26 January 1989
The first line of the poem may be translated as:
Jade shears dart through the flowers
The second line describes feathers on a gown shimmering in moonlight, resembling fluttering Daoist fairies in flight. The phrase ni shang may refer to a song named Ni shang yu yi qu (The Melody of the Gown of Shimmering Feathers). It is believed that the song was composed by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong (AD 712-756). Legend has it that the Emperor Xuanzong composed the melody in Luoyang during a Moon Festival when walking in the Moon Palace with a Daoist monk. Later in his reign, the melody was played at Taiqing Palace when worshipping Laozi, founder of Daoism in China. In the dance that was performed to this music the dancers wore dresses adorned with peacock feathers.














