清十八 / 十九世紀 瑪瑙俏雕靈猴鼻煙壺

together with a watercolour illustration by Peter Suart

Maxime Hermanos，1979年
Gerd Lester，1986年

JICSBS, March 1976, front cover.
Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 2, no. 281.

Some minute chips to the outer lip, smoothed leaving an uneven edge. Tiny chips to the inner lip.
"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."

Much of the design on this bottle is the result of editing a thin plane of dark material running through the bottle. Even the tree trunk has been edited, leaving an undulating surface, and the monkey is almost entirely contrived, whether by cutting away the thin layer of dark material to make facial features, toes, fingers, etc. or by undulating the surface of the bottle to bring out the required silhouette.

One intriguing aspect of this bottle has not been edited in any way. The rocky bank against which the compelling image of the monkey is set continues around one narrow side of the bottle to the back and breaks up into a series of irregular lines of thin, dark colour, which are, quite by chance, a shadow equivalent of Suzhou rockwork with its repeated lines of serrations.

The similarity in style between this bottle and Sale 5, lot 36 (also with monkeys) suggests that they may be by the same hand or workshop, but this may be no more than the commonality of subject matter and the use of the silhouette or shadow technique. However, the hollowing is also carelessly done on that bottle, particularly into the shoulders, and the foot is a similar recessed convex oval, so they have more in common than just the design.

Compensation for the less painstaking hollowing is readily found here in the power of the image, its simplicity and the stark contrast of the unusually dark markings on an even, pale grey ground. It is also found in the tree, which is splendidly powerful and natural looking. Many of the more impressive silhouette designs occur on bottles that are irregularly hollowed and have lazier detailing of the foot. It seems that by the nineteenth century this type had come firmly into vogue, and the artists were continuing to meet demand by producing masterpieces, but with lower standards of hollowing and detailing than would have been acceptable earlier.