TABATIERE EN GRES YIXING CHINE, 1780-1840

l'une des faces décorée d'un pavillon et paysage montagneux, l'autre gravée d'une inscription



 

Galerie Bertrand de Lavergne

Tabatières Chinoises, Trésors des Collections Privées Françaises, Paris, 29 novembre – 17 décembre 2000, n°275

Good condition. The actual colour is slightly less red, the brown a fraction darker than on the illustration in the catalogue.
"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."

Yixing in Jiangsu province gives its name to this distinctive stoneware. In production for nearly a thousand years in the same place, Yixing ware only came into artistic prominence in the later Ming dynasty, when it was adopted by the scholar class as a suitable material for teapots and thence for other items in the scholar's studio. Slip-decorated wares constitute a considerable portion of the known snuff-bottle output in this material. Slip is a liquid clay which can be applied like a thick paint, or can be used for gluing segments together.

A Yixing bottle from the J & J collection of same shape and decoration but with one main panel left undecorated, probably waiting to be incised afterwards with an inscription, is illustrated in Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, no. 255 and was sold at Christie's New York, 17 September 2008, lot 74.

These bottles are probably by the same master slip-decorator who produced the spectacular and rare bottle also in the J & J Collection decorated with brown slip on a beige ground, which was made for the Court (illustrated Moss, Graham, Tsang, ibid., no. 255).
For further examples of his work, see R. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, p. 367, no. 240