A White and Spinach Jade ‘Eggplant’ Snuff Bottle Qing Dynasty, 18th / 19th Century

together with a watercolour illustration by Peter Suart

Hugh M. Moss Ltd., Hong Kong, 1987.

Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 1, no. 70.

Minor surface wear to the exterior of the mouth, otherwise good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

It is believed that as a general rule bottles with stoppers at the top are meant to be viewed with the line across the mouth horizontal, even if it is not made to stand. Standing bottles seem to follow this general rule, and one can assume the same for bottles that do not stand but are meant to be viewed vertically. As sculpture, this bottle unquestionably works best when the mouth is horizontal. The generous bulb of the fruit, culminating in the pointed tip at its end, is very carefully designed for this orientation, which makes the bulk of the fruit most satisfying visually, not only as form, but as a counterpoint to the diagonal striations in the nephrite. The dark green sepals perfectly offset the unbalanced weight of the fruit; some of them curve slightly in one direction or another, others seem to hold the bulb by invisible wires of energy. It may seem fanciful to see so much in a mere eggplant, but the people who made the best snuff bottles, those that also qualify as high art in the Chinese tradition, were not producing mere eggplants, or any other subject merely as subject; they were creating works of art for highly trained aesthetes from a culture that had honed aesthetics to a point of exquisite comprehension over the millennia. Such people would notice these things.

The sculptural power and the masterly control of the medium of this example are unexcelled. The sepals around the fruit are exquisitely well carved and unusually expressive. The lip is so deeply concave that it is essentially a counterbore. This may be a further touch of individuality in this example, or a standard way on this type of bottle to match the seat of an original twig-shaped stopper, now missing.