A BROWN OVERLAY WHITE GLASS 'MENG HAORAN' SNUFF BOTTLE ATTRIBUTED TO WANG SU, YANGZHOU, QING DYNASTY, JIAQING / DAOGUANG PERIOD

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th October 1992, lot 363.

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 180.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 5, Hong Kong, 2002, no. 1046.
Hugh Moss, 'Imperial Ivory Snuff Bottles', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Spring 2001, p. 23, fig. 33.

Crack running across the lip and then 16mm down the side. A smaller line running over the lip, an original flaw. Air bubbles visible, some burst to the surface.
"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."

Among the names appearing with some regularity on Yangzhou overlay carvings is Wang Xiaomei 王小梅, an alternative name adopted by the prominent nineteenth-century literatus and painter Wang Su 王素 (1794 – 1877). On one documentary bottle in a Hong Kong collection, both names appear together: ‘Xiaomei, Wang Su’ (see JICSBS, Spring 2001, p. 23, fig. 26).

Wang, who seems to have lived his life in Yangzhou, was a professional painter who achieved a level of fame early in life and was probably able to commission snuff bottles with his name on them. The earliest dated Xiaomei-signed bottle was made in 1821 (JICSBS Spring 2011, p. 23, fig. 29), when he was in his late twenties and beginning to be known locally; he became more widely known and acknowledged as an artist only later in his career.

The Blochs acquired this bottle as an important (if stylistically anomalous) part of the Wang Su repertoire.

The couplet here reads

春山澹曉月，碧水漾往煙
Spring mountains buoy the dawn moon;
Green waters ripple the departing mist.