Bottle ID: 00297

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YE BENGQI, CLEAR W/ROCKWORK, TREES, BIRDS & PEONIES

Date: 1955

Height: 67 mm

Glass, ink and watercolors, of rectangular form with sloping shoulders, painted on the inside - on one side with a leafy tree issuing from rockwork with a pair of crested birds, one perched on the trunk and the other on an upper branch, with a flowering peony to one side; the reverse painted with two flowering peonies issuing from rockwork beneath a leafy tree, below an inscription: 'October 1955, Made by Ye Bengqi', with one seal (illegible).

Similar Examples:

Sotheby's, New York, March 17, 1997, lot 481, The Dodge Collection.
Stevens, Bob C.  The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, 1976, p. 266, no. 945.
Sotheby's, London, April 24, 1989, lot 424, Collection of Eric Young, Part III.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
The Kenneth Hark Collection, Florida.

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

Ye Bengqi was one of the sons of Ye Zhongsan.  He was taught to paint inside bottles by his father from the age of seven (although his working period is from 1928-1960) and often signed his work with his father's name as a sign of respect and honor.  According to Ye Bengqi, he was also taught the art of enameling by his father, although enamel works by Ye Zhongsan are not identifiable.  Even Ye Bengqi, when asked by Hugh Moss to indicate which works might have been produced by Ye Zhongsan, was unable to recognize any with confidence.  Ye Bengqi did little enameling after the closure of the Ye family studio in 1949, other than to teach the art to Wang Xisan.  When Ye Bengqi began painting again in 1954, he signed his bottles with his own name.  However, inside painted bottles by him are unusual, and none more so than examples in the style following his technically accomplished enamel work of a bird and flower painting, such as the enamel on glass example cited above from the Collection of Bob Stevens.

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