Bottle ID: 86

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CARVED WITH PRUNUS, PINE

Date: 1740-1795

Height: 60 mm

Coral, of varied pale pink color, of flattened squared form with rounded shoulders sloping to a cylindrical neck, the sides carved with mock mask and ring handles, with a neatly carved footrim, well carved in low relief on one side with a prunus branch springing from tiered rockwork, beside lilies and bamboo; the reverse with a pine tree and flowers springing from a pierced rock, further rocks and grasses encircling the base.

Similar Examples:

None found.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, November 16, 1989, lot 213
The Kaynes-Klitz Collection

Coral (corallium rubrum) is a marine animal and not a plant as most people assume. It grows and reproduces on the rocky seabed typically in dark environments, in water with strong currents. The coral used throughout the snuff bottle period was found in the western Pacific Ocean around Japan and Taiwan. It is generally accepted that the paler pink coral was used in the eighteenth century, whilst the more common brighter red coral was used for later nineteenth century carvings. The acceptance of a flawed piece of material, which needed to be filled in parts with wax, indicates the reverence that the Chinese placed on coral. This is an extraordinary bottle, partly because of its larger size, but also because it exhibits a delicacy of carving and design not often seen in this material. It is unusual to find mock mask and ring handles on a coral bottle, but when they do appear the handles are always very well carved, as is the case with this example.

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