Lot 1109
Treasury 1, no. 75 (‘Flared-Foot Yellow Jade’)
HK$100,000

Nephrite and artificial colour; not very well hollowed; with a deeply recessed foot; stained to simulate pebble skin
Probably imperial, probably palace workshops, Beijing, 1750–1800
Height: 5.85 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.85/1.31 cm
Stopper: glass; glass finial.

Provenance:
My Humble House, Taipei
Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (Hong Kong, 1992)

Published:
Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, no. 2
Treasury 1, no. 75

Exhibited:
Hong Kong Museum of Art, March–June 1994
National Museum, Singapore, November 1994–February 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997

The hollowing of this bottle, adequate but not extensive and combined with a very wide mouth, is often found on nephrite bottles attributable to the palace workshops at Beijing. The combination of a wide mouth and merely adequate hollowing may stem from a variety of possible functional considerations. From a practical point of view, it would obviously be easier to achieve any sort of hollowing through a wide mouth. In bottles made for the court, for the emperor, or as gifts for high officials, large capacity would have been unnecessary. Such wealthy and powerful individuals probably had vast quantities of snuff bottles and servants constantly on hand to re-fill them, so merely adequate hollowing would be perfectly functional for court life.

The heavy foot area might also have been stabilizing for a bottle which was intended for display. On a significant number of nephrite bottles of the eighteenth century that are attributable to the court, the hollowing is concentrated in the upper area of the available form. This gives the bottle greater stability, adding further weight at the base and lowering the centre of gravity. From the evidence of the massive collection of snuff bottles confiscated in 1799 from Heshen 和珅 (1750 – 1799), the notoriously corrupt favourite of the Qianlong emperor, we know that powerful courtiers often amassed large individual collections. The wealthy would almost certainly have reached a stage where fine bottles full of tightly corked snuff stood waiting around the house. A wealthy official might have dozens of rooms, the emperor and his family, hundreds, in which a snuff bottle could be kept conveniently standing on a table or a shelf. Being small and often fragile, such bottles would survive longer if they were stable. This example is extremely solid. A gentle knock that would send a conventional bottle crashing merely rocks this one.

Where the form allowed, the palace workshops seem to have favoured a distinct flattened upper neck rim or lip. This detail is seen here and on Sale 6, lot 174 and Sale 7, lot 36, among others.

The brown staining here is an interesting lesson in judging stained nephrite. There is no doubt that this example is stained, since the colour is cut through at the foot rim, presumably to remove a tiny chip (a hint of which is still visible in the brown section). Where the stain was added and the depth to which it penetrated the material are both clearly visible. The stain was added to a section of the yellow nephrite that was somewhat drab, having a more opaque, creamy-beige colouring. Where the staining is not worn, around the outer and inner foot rim, it is very natural looking, raising the possibility that a great deal of Qing nephrite with brown skin may have been enhanced by staining so successfully that it has not been noticed. It is easy to see the appeal of the brown staining in combination with yellow nephrite. It is still very attractive even where softened by wear around the main body of the bottle, but around the foot, where the original richness of the russet brown stain is visible, it creates a stunning contrast and a powerful abstract pattern to enhance the inherent cultural resonance of pebble nephrite.

This is not the Sotheby’s sale catalogue. This is a product of Hugh Moss for the purposes of this website. For the catalogue details please refer to Sotheby’s website or request a copy of a printed sale catalogue from Sotheby’s.