Bottle ID: 00168

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CHEN ZHONGSAN, MAN ON MULE & LANDSCAPE

Date: 1909

Height: 58 mm

Glass, ink and watercolors, of rectangular form with rounded shoulders, painted on the inside with, on one side, a despondent Huang Chenyen riding his mule across a bridge in a snowy mountainous landscape, his attendant walking behind him carrying a blossoming prunus branch; the reverse with two crickets fighting on a mossy bank, a praying mantis and a ladybug to one side, with a dragonfly above chrysanthemums, a spray of millet and a cabbage, signed 'Made by Chen Zhongsan' and dated 'Autumn Month of the First Year of the Xuandong Emperor, 1909', with one seal (illegible).

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 448.
Lawrence, Clare. Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom - The Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1996, pp. 306-307, no. 147.36.
Low, Denis S. K. More Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, 2002, p. 359, no. 324.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
The Monimar Collection
Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Sotheby's, London, March 3, 1987, lot 155
Eric Young
Sotheby Parke Bernet, Honolulu, November 7, 1981, lot 224
Bob C. Stevens

Exhibited:
 

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

Published:
 

Stevens, Bob C. The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, 1976, p. 246, no. 909.

Chen Zhongsan has painted this combination of scenes a number of times, begging the question: how is the seemingly innocent garden scene of insects related to the well-known tale of Huang Chenyen's banishment from the Official Court? The central pair of fighting crickets represents Huang's fighting spirit and his courage in the face of repeated misfortune, while the blossoming chrysanthemums, the flower of autumn, symbolize long life and endurance. Contrast this to the insects on the periphery of this scene, the praying mantis, normally shown in its habitat on the tops of flowers and plants, and the dragonfly, both emblematic of corruption and instability. The message is clear that good eventually will win over evil and that persistence is the key to achieving this.

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