A Chalcedony ‘Scholar in a Landscape’ Snuff Bottle Suzhou, School of Zhiting, Qing Dynasty, 18th / 19th Century

Arthur Gadsby.
Bob C. Stevens.
Sotheby’s Honolulu, 7th November 1981, lot 88.
Eric Young.
Sotheby’s London, 13th October 1987, lot 84.
Bellis Collection.

Stevens, 1976, no. 572.
Jutheau, 1980, p. 105, fig. 2.
Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 2, no. 378.

Barely perceptible nibbles to the outer lip and a tiny chip on the lip. A small chip on the back of the boat.
"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."

With this astonishingly well documented bottle, one encounters a chalcedony bottle from the Zhiting school that is a later version made after the disappearance of Zhiting, or whoever was the dominant artistic personality responsible for the earlier group. Although following the same pattern of a small, adequately but not well hollowed bottle, with a flat oval foot and obsessive use of all the colours in the material, and with many of the same features such as the convoluted rock, pine trees, robed scholar, and serrated rocks, the artistic style is quite different and a little less coherent, and the technical command used to impose it on the material not quite as well controlled. Those works that can be attributed to the direct involvement of Zhiting himself, or whoever was the workshop owner at the time the bottles were produced, are all both inspired art and technically impeccable.

The formalized waves, a new element for the visual lexicon of the Zhiting school introduced here, are delightfully well conceived and executed, providing a lovely textured ground for the small boat, also a lovely image and well controlled technically.