Lot 53

Lot 53
Treasury 7, no. 1559

A walrus ivory snuff bottle and dish

(‘Green Walrus’)

Walrus ivory and green stain; very well hollowed, with a flat lip and recessed, flat foot surrounded by a protruding, convex footrim; the narrow sides carved with mask-and-ring handles
Attributed to Beijing, possibly imperial, 1760–1850
Snuff bottle:
Height: 5.47 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.67/1.9 cm
Stopper: glass; silver-gilt collar
Snuff bottle:
Height: 5.47 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.67/1.9 cm
Stopper: glass; silver-gilt collar

Associated Paraphernalia:
Snuff dish: walrus ivory and green stain; with a protruding, circular footrim
1750–1900
Diameter: 3.03 cm

Lot 53 Provenance:
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd (1993)

Snuff Dish Provenance:
Robert Kleiner (1991)

Published:
Treasury 7, no. 1559

Lot 53 Commentary
Walruses are of the pinniped suborder, which also includes seals and sea lions. Their tusks are modified upper canines that grow downwards from the upper jaw in a slight curve. The ivory of their tusks is distinctive in appearance because it is the only ivory to contain primary and secondary dentine. The former makes up the bulk of the tusk and displays finely packed concentric lines, while the latter is bubbly or cellular in appearance and fills the centre of the tusk. Although the secondary dentine appears more fragile, they both have the same hardness (Pedersen 2004, pp. 61 and 62).

As with other marine ivory material, it is the outer area that looks more like elephant ivory; beneath this surface is the more mottled material. Most marine ivory takes a lovely polish and acquires a gorgeous warm, creamy patination with handling. Various sorts of marine ivory were used in China throughout the Qing dynasty, some of it at the palace workshops, although to nothing like the same extent as elephant ivory. The most popular marine ivory was walrus ivory. As a rule, it was stained emerald green. All three bottles in this collection are stained-see Sale 2, lot 120>-as are all but a few other known examples. Stained walrus ivory was among the more popular materials for snuff dishes from the mid- to late-Qing dynasty, although, again, elephant ivory was favoured. For a rare unstained walrus-ivory snuff bottle, see Moss 1971a, p. 93, no. 128.

There had to be a good reason for staining this lovely material emerald-green, and it may have been that staining made it resemble jadeite, even mimicking the frequent mottling of the bright-green stone of the type so often used for snuff bottles—which was very rarely the flawless, transparent material so valued in jewellery. Jadeite did not become fashionable until the second half of the Qianlong reign, partly in response to the Qianlong emperor’s obsession with the stone, so if the artificial staining of walrus ivory arose from a fashion for jadeite, then the likelihood is that the material did not become popular until the latter part of the eighteenth century. Nothing made from it would seem to contradict such an assumption.

This is a lovely example of a common type. The material is stained an unusually dark emerald-green colour, although the natural variations in the structure of the material itself have taken the stain differently, as is common with walrus ivory, adding an extra dimension to the overall aesthetic equation. So often this material can appear rather dark and dull, but this one positively gleams. This effect is also enhanced by the years of handling that have gently smoothed the relief details of the mask-and-ring handles and imparted a warm, glowing surface to the rest of the bottle.

The most common way to treat this material in a snuff bottle was to leave it plain, allowing it to speak for itself. This standard shape could have been made anywhere at any time, but the mask handles are typical of northern production during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and of imperial production in particular, suggesting— even though we can never be sure—an imperial provenance. Although this material was popular from the eighteenth century onwards, this bottle is likely to date from the mid- Qing. The considerable wear suggests a good deal of use, and the shape, hollowing, and mask handles would all be commensurate with such a date.

For an undecorated example of this material, see Hughes 2002, no. 110, and for another but with a matching stopper, Au Hang 1993, no. 242.

The dish came into the collection matched up with a jadeite snuff bottle (Treasury 1, no. 179), but it was only a recent match, since that bottle was from the Ko Collection, and the dish was not; the Blochs thought it would be better matched here.