Lot 125

Lot 125
Treasury 1, no. 57

A white nephrite pebble-material ‘silkmoth’ snuff bottle

(‘Silkmoth Jade’)

Nephrite of pebble material; irregularly hollowed and carved in the form of a stylized silkmoth
1720–1840
Length: 5.6 cm
Mouth: 0.6 cm
Stopper: coral; turquoise collar

Lot 125 Provenance:
Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (Hong Kong, 1989)

Published:
Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, no. 48
Treasury 1, no. 57

Exhibited:
Hong Kong Museum of Art, March–June 1994
National Museum, Singapore, November 1994–February 1995

Lot 125 Commentary
There is some question as to the identity of this insect, since moths have flat wings and these are distinctly rounded to the contours of the body. A cicada has been suggested as an alternative identification but the cicada had become so much a standard part of Chinese decorative arts by the Qing period that its detailing and formalization were well established and unlikely to have been changed. Altered to this extent, people would simply not recognize the creature as a cicada, and there is little point in using cicada symbolism if it is to be missed by the target audience. It is far more likely that this unique bottle is intended to depict a moth, and if so, the silkmoth is the only one that would occur to the Chinese to depict, no others having any particular symbolism, while silkworms and moths refer to a vital and long-standing part of the material culture of China.

The silkmoth is often depicted in this way, with bug-eyes, spread double wings, and a ribbed body (see, for instance, a Yangzhou glass bottle illustrated by Kleiner 1987, no. 123). Here the wings are closed so the inner set is covered by the outer. Another high-relief Yangzhou glass snuff bottle with a unique combination of eight colours, in the Franz collection, which is even closer in detail to this example, has a silk moth in association with silkworms, cocoons, and mulberry leaves, so the identity of the creature as a silkmoth seems confirmed.

The curving of the wings may indicate that the moth has just emerged from its cocoon, at which point the wings, not yet dried, follow the shape of the body to some extent. This transformation from worm (or caterpillar) to flying insect through the chrysalis stage, common to lepidoptera, has always intrigued humankind. The obvious symbolism of rebirth after entombment would have been significant in a culture that believed in the reincarnation of individuality. A more likely reason for the curved wings is sculptural licence. In Chinese art the spirit of what was depicted was usually more important than its detail. Whatever was sufficient to identify it and convey its spirit was enough. Cicadas also have flattish wings, although angled to sit into the curve of the body when at rest, and yet they are often depicted with a far more pronounced curve than in real life (see Moss, Graham, and Tsang 1993, nos. 7 and 8). This creature has only four legs shown, sufficient to indicate legs, but two short of a full complement for a moth, although some geometrid moths do not use their hind legs, which are atrophied and reduced in size.

The original conception of this carving as a snuff bottle as opposed to a converted small sculpture is confirmed by the fact that the lines surrounding the eyes on one side of the mouth are bent to follow the line of the mouth opening, and on the other side, where the opening takes up the same space as the outer eye-line, it was obviously carved after the mouth was in place, since the line peters out as it approaches the open mouth. Had the mouth been cut through existing detail, the line would be continuous, and the opening for the mouth would have simply cut it short. This provides some useful information about procedure in making such a creature, since it implies that the mouth and, most likely, the hollowing were completed before the outer detail was finished. A rough shape was probably hollowed out first, and then the outer detail carved and finished.

The skin colour of this pebble is entirely natural, sinking into the surface of the stone rather than sitting on it. It was clearly there before the carving was done, since the incision outlining the head of the moth penetrates through its shallow depth to reveal white below. Had it been stained after the carving was finished, the colour would have penetrated into the incision. A possible indication of a palace workshop source is in the heavy area left unhollowed at the tail end of the creature , since this would make the bottle more stable when set out on display in the palace. But it must be noted that, although the bottle is well hollowed through its flatter profile, it is not well hollowed into the partially spread wings of the broader profile, nor is the shaping inside the mouth of the bottle very well done. Functionally it is well hollowed, but not the work of a perfectionist, so perhaps the heavy foot is no more significant than the heaviness in the wing areas.

This minor interior shortcoming is amply offset by the masterly sculpture and fine carving of the exterior detail, suggesting that either someone else in the workshop did the hollowing, which is quite likely, or that the artist concentrated on what he felt was more important, having achieved functional hollowing.

The moth, apart from being a unique form as a naturalistic snuff bottle, is very well conceived as sculpture, taking advantage of the brown colouring for the head area to distinguish it clearly from the relatively flawless material of the pebble core. It is formally powerful, with the head well balanced by the three elements of the body (the two wings and the main, ribbed thorax). As sculpture, it works in the hand, or lying on a flat surface where one can look down on it.