The Mary and George Bloch Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part II.

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Tuesday 23rd November 2010 at 10am
Island Shangri-La
Island Ballroom
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Central, Hong Kong (click here for map)

The text below is as it will appear on the Bonham's web site

Two numbers are given in each case, the lot number, followed by the number in the Bloch Catalogues (Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Mary and George Bloch Collection. Hong Kong: Herald International. vol. 1, Jade (1995) nos. 1 - 187; vol. 2, Quartz (1998) nos. 188 - 379; vol. 3, Stones Other than Jade and Quartz (1998) nos. 380 - 436; vol. 4, Inside Painted (2000) nos. 437 - 674; vol. 5, Glass, (2002) nos. 675 -1060;Vol. 6, Arts of the Fire (2007) nos. 1061 – 1468; Vol. 7, Organic, metal, mixed media, (2009) nos. 1469 – 1720. Hereafter these volumes will be abbreviated to Treasury followed by the volume number (i.e. Treasury 6).

The following captions and commentaries are based upon this seven-volume catalogue, but we have made corrections and additions where appropriate. Hence, references to ‘we’ in the commentaries below refer to the authors of that series. Anyone wishing to find further information about a material, type of bottle, or particular artist, should consult the Treasury series, where a great deal of additional information will be found. The descriptions here, however, take precedence over those in the printed volumes for the purposes of the Bloch Collection auctions and incorporate additional research in some cases. Whenever a reference occurs to a page or entry number in the original Treasury text, it refers, of course, to those volumes.

With condition reports, we have painstakingly tried to list every defect, however small, state of wear, and any restoration. When a report says ‘workshop condition,’ ‘kiln condition’ or ‘studio condition’ it means that it appears the same as when it was first produced either in a workshop, pottery or studio and is in ‘mint’ condition – although any work of art which has been in existence for a century or more is liable to have invisible signs of wear if viewed through a sufficiently high powered magnifier. Where we note problems, we have sometimes also used an overriding ‘General relative condition’ which describes the condition taking into account any minor problems but also taking into account the usual state of such wares, and the normal wear and patination to soft materials, etc.

George Bloch died on 27 April 2009, drawing a close to his and Mary’s collecting activities in this field (which, as serious and well-informed collectors, spanned the years from about 1980 to late 2008). The Blochs were probably the greatest collectors of Chinese snuff bottles of modern times. A few others may have formed similarly large collections (William Bragge, Chester Beatty and Alex Cussons, for instance), and several others similarly good collections, but none have combined their approach to the snuff bottle as art and the sheer breadth and depth of the collection. The Blochs had a considerable advantage over the earlier group of major collectors. In recent times our knowledge of the subject has increased exponentially due to the studies of a growing group of individuals over the past half century. These individuals (and the Blochs are among them with their impressive programme of exhibitions and publications), allow a current generation of collectors to be far more discerning than their forebears. During their years of collecting, the Blochs also benefitted from the sterling efforts of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, providing a significant part of a recent flood of fresh information through publication. This includes many thousands of bottles illustrated in new publications, including the imperial collection, the rump of which survives either in Beijing or Taipei, and a good deal of fresh information, some of it arising out of the recent publication of the records of the palace workshops (Zaobanchu). The capacity of the internet has also greatly facilitated access to fresh research and data. This new information, combined with the Blochs’ considerable means and commitment to collecting, allowed them to form one of the largest and best collections ever assembled. If all serious contenders were constrained to select only, say, 400 of their best bottles by which to be judged, then there would be several contenders for the finest collection of modern times, but when that number is increased to over 1700 examples, the Blochs are the only ones left in contention.

In accordance with George Bloch’s instructions and his and Mary’s long-term plan, the collection will be sold off in a series of small auctions, twice a year, over the next several years. With sensible and attractive estimates, full and honest condition reports, and a judicious selection for each auction, the market will be encouraged rather than alarmed by the quantities involved. A market without supply is hardly a market at all, but a market with a regular, guaranteed supply of the finest examples, well published and exhibited, fully catalogued, with impeccable provenance and spread over between 6 and 8 years is likely to encouraging both existing and new demand. This is also a combination which will greatly encourage the immense potential of a new generation of collectors from mainland China.

We have also taken the opportunity to evolve the system of snuff-bottle marketing with this collection. No major auction house has its own in-house snuff-bottle experts who can compete with the main dealers and collectors around the world, yet their ever-increasing charges suggest that they should provide such expertise. To overcome this problem, Bonham’s has agreed to work with the website e-yaji.com, which has been set up by Nicholas Moss with his uncle, Hugh Moss, as a consultant. The e-yaji team will deal with the Bloch Collection up until the point of sale, providing full descriptions and research (already mostly published in the Treasury series of catalogues but updated where necessary), painstaking condition reports, and multiple photographs that can be manipulated and enlarged to facilitate efficient viewing on a computer screen. This will all appear on our website, and the collection will be delivered to us for the final stages of exhibition and auction. The Bloch family undertake to guarantee all information provided by e-yaji.com and, therefore, by Bonham’s. A mirror of Bonham’s web pages for this collection will also appear on e-yaji.com, where a good deal of further research material on snuff bottles is being rapidly introduced which will be of use to those seeking more information about snuff bottles in general, and specific types or artists involved in the Bloch Collection sales.

We believe that this evolved system which we are pioneering for the snuff-bottle world will prove to be better system than the current one and avoid the problems for collectors of a catalogue (with often limited information in it) produced a few weeks before an auction, which is then held in a far-off city with collectors given a scant few days to view a large number of bottles, often under rather trying circumstances. We still encourage collectors to attend the auctions personally, of course, and to handle bottles from the collection, but having made an informed and initial selection from our web site. For those who cannot, the web site should be equal to a personal viewing of each bottle, and we are, as usual, happy to accept bids prior to the sale or to set up telephone bidding during the auction.

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