THE CHINESE
COLLECTION
Warrior &
Geisha Girl Snuff Bottle
A carved cinnabar lacquer snuff bottle with
a Quartz stopper.
B80
Cinnabar lacquer, carved with a warrior and horse standing under a gnarled pine tree, a beautiful
girl with hand raised to her eyes; the reverse with two ladies; the background carved with lozenge
and formalized cloud patterns.
Chinese, 19th Century
Stopper: Quartz
Provenance: George A. Cohen
Height: 6.2cm
Lacquer comes from the sap of the lacquer tree, which is grown throughout southern China. In
this case the lacquer has been coloured using cinnabar (a mercury derivative) and painted in over
150 layers and subsequently carved.
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