Featured Large Snuff Bottle, Riverside Scene, Age?

Discussion in 'Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain' started by ValerieK, May 25, 2024.

  1. ValerieK

    ValerieK Well-Known Member

    snuff - 1.jpeg snuff - 1 (1).jpeg snuff - 1 (2).jpeg snuff - 1 (3).jpeg snuff bottle - 4.jpeg This snuff bottle came in the same lot as the little celadon bottle I posted a while ago, and is the reason I bought the lot, I just fell for it. I wondered if I could learn any more about it, like whether it is a very recent tourist piece or maybe vintage, and whether it has any collectable value. I really admire all the work which has gone into it, and have no intention of selling it. I've found a similar one in an old post, where the poster said it showed a traditional design showing the "Riverside Scene at QingMing Festival". Mine is very large but much less finely painted than that one, and has no signature. The bottle is heavy, about 4 inches wide and 4 inches high, 1.3 inches deep. The stopper is very loose, the stone (onyx?) may be original but the cork has fallen inside the bottle and I think has been replaced with one too small, and rather bizarrely the wand with the spoon has been pushed into the cork the wrong way round, so whoever tried to repair it had no idea what the bottle was for.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2024
    Boland, kyratango, judy and 2 others like this.
  2. Roaring20s

    Roaring20s Well-Known Member

  3. ValerieK

    ValerieK Well-Known Member

    Many thanks for this, everything I wanted to know! So late 20th century, as I thought, and not worth much, but if I manage to sell some other items from the lot I may make back the very modest cost (£40) and be able to keep it for free, along with another inside painted bottle showing a grasshopper, which I also love. I'd like to see the original scroll and the interactive displays, and I think I will try to look closely at my bottle to see all the activities going on, all those people living their busy lives. Although not painted with the highest artistic skill I think it is still an example of many hours of skilled craftsmanship. On the other hand, I will have to investigate with a microscope to make sure it is actually painted, and not produced by a photographic method, having read a long discussion on fake bottles with photo transfers :
    https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,25.msg12017.html#msg12017
    I will report back if I find it isn't real painting, but at least I would be able to stop worrying about an artist painting many hours for a very small return! The education is worth the price to me.
     
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  4. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Correct. And it has many siblings. Still, a fun bottle, with that QingMing Festival scene.
    Serpentine, possibly "serpentine jade", which is a harder variant of serpentine.
    It could have come from another bottle, this type is often seen on mid-century transfer-printed porcelain bottles.
    They probably thought it was a perfume bottle, many people do.:banghead:
    You can probably pull the spoon out carefully. It looks bone, so it can break, but not if you are gentle with it.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2024
    Marote, Boland and kyratango like this.
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