THE CHINESE COLLECTION

A chalcedony well hollowed silhouette picture of the sampan by the cliff snuff bottle. Carnelian and metal stopper.

B27

Chalcedony, pale-beige with dark-brown and pale-russet inclusions, conceived with a minimum of carving to depict two fishermen, one sitting near the hood and one standing at the bow of the sampan, by the side of a cliff, above them is a full moon; the well hollowed bottle of rounded form.

Chinese, 1750 - 1860
Stopper: carnelian on metal mount
Provenance: Hugh Moss Ltd, 1974
Height: 4.9cm

One of the many facets of my interest in Chinese snuff bottles is that, particularly with the hard stone varieties, every one is different, relying on the piece of stone which has been produced by 'Mother Nature'. A new challenge appears on the horizon every time a piece of stone is presented to a craftsman, and should twenty craftsmen be given the exact same piece of stone (which is not possible) each of those twenty snuff bottles would result in a very different appearance, different areas would be recognised by the various pairs of eyes and treated in a different manner, some more interesting than others. This is a charming depiction of one of the four noble professions - fishing.