SIGNED MA SHAOXUAN, DATED JIAWU (1894)

Details

AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
SIGNED MA SHAOXUAN, DATED JIAWU (1894)
The flattened bottle is painted on one side with a lady holding a peony seated at a desk set with an ink stone, water pot, books and brushes, all below an inscription and a red seal, and on the reverse with a five-line inscription describing the scene and a red seal.
2 ½ in. (6.3 cm.) high, jadeite stopper

Provenance

De Lisle Collection, Auckland, New Zealand.
Robert Hall, London, 1998.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2725.

Exhibited

Boston, International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.

Special Notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Brought to you by

Andrew Lick

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) was one of the most technically accomplished artists of the Beijing School of snuff-bottle painting. Founded by Zhou Leyuan, The Beijing School included other leading artists such as Ding Erzhong, Ye Zhongsan and Zi Yizi. The present bottle is particularly special because it was painted in 1894, the first year from which works by him have survived (although he is known to have painted earlier). It is one of only a handful of known bottles the artist created in this year. Another bottle painted in this same year and from the Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles was sold at Christie’s, New York, 13 September 2017, lot 295.

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