A WHITE JADE 'CARP' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, MID-18TH / MID-19TH CENTURY

well hollowed, carved in the form of a fantail goldfish, with slight staining to represent pebble material; the jadeite stopper carved as the upper two-thirds of a double-gourd

Collection of Arthur Gadsby.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2nd May 1991, lot 102.

Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of George and Mary Bloch, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 50.
National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 1994-1995.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1996, no. 54.

The snuff bottle is in very good condition. The actual colour of the stone is more pale celadon compared to the catalogue illustration.
"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."

The tiny flecks of brown resembling traces of pebble skin on one side of the fish near the tail appear to be artificial. Staining was a standard technique available to the jade carver for centuries before the snuff bottle was invented. As a rule, however, token staining seems to have been a Qing refinement, and possibly one that developed only in the Qianlong period. The original purpose of staining was to simulate or enhance in pebble or boulder material certain colours and skin effects that were valued. After the introduction of quarried material on a grand scale, from the late Ming period onwards, staining allowed material that never had a skin to acquire one, thus linking it to the river-bed material of the long-standing traditional source. From this point onwards, a distinction was made between pebble and quarried, or mined, material, and the latter could be connected to the more highly valued tradition of the former by staining. This provided the incentive for the token staining that had evolved by the Qianlong period. By that time it was obviously sufficient in many cases merely to hint at a pebble source by adding just enough colour to link the piece to the longer-standing tradition. Such token staining is quite common on Qianlong jade carvings and particularly on the massive output from the 1760s onwards, when the sources of jade came under Qing rule.