清十八 / 十九世紀 理石題詩鼻煙壺 《竹軒作》款

Trojan 收藏
Robert Hall，倫敦，1993年

Hall, R., 1992, no. 34.
Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 3, no. 387.

Minor repair to a chip on the outer footrim. Surface scratches from wear.
"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."

This material is typical of one of the commonest forms of marble worldwide. It is both soft and fragile, so the relatively few marble snuff bottles of any great age that are known must represent a much larger original output that has mostly perished. This bottle has some minor chips around the foot rim, and the surface is well worn and scratched through use, a common enough problem with early bottles in fragile materials.

Because marble is one of the softer stones, with a hardness ranging around 3 on the Mohs scale (varying with impurities), it can be cut easily and marked without difficulty even with a pin, so the scholar class could work it directly without any unseemly industrial effort. It is interesting to note, however, that it was not much used for seals, nor are the majority of marble bottles inscribed or decorated by scholars. Something about the material apparently did not regularly attract the scholar class to incorporate it into their usual range of valued materials. This bottle is a rare exception, although it must be pointed out that ‘So-and-so zuo’ is highly ambiguous as to whether a craftsman or a patron is designated; the signature on this bottle could belong to either one.

We can, however, retract our supposition that the two lines on the side of the bottle with the signature were composed by Zhuxuan. In fact, they are from a ‘minor piece’ (xiao pin 小品, a genre of informal prose) by a Ming writer named Tu Long 屠隆 (1542 – 1605). The designer of the bottle may have taken it from the Yongzheng emperor’s compilation of works that he had found to express the lofty and pure sentiments he valued, the Yuexin ji 悅心集 (Collection to please my mind). The emperor’s preface is dated 1726, but it must be emphasized that Tu Long’s works were undoubtedly available in other publications as well, so the emperor’s anthology offers no conclusive evidence for the date of this bottle. Tu’s piece (in the third juan of the 1726 anthology) is titled Xiaoxian qing shi 消閒清史 (A pure history of idle pursuits) and comprises eighteen short sketches of lofty pastimes; the ninth sketch begins with the two lines on this bottle.

For the five-zhu coin on the other side of the bottle, see Sale 4, lot 45.

As with most soft stones, the hollowing is not extensive here for practical reasons, the thickness of wall giving the material the strength it needs to survive.