Lot: 390
Large Qing Dynasty Agate Snuff Bottle
The sculptor of this large snuff bottle exploited the natural black and brown veins and carved away a large amounts of the agate to reach a pattern like the mountain-and-river painting of Song(960-1279 AD) painting masters. As a result the multicolor veins look like cliffs, mountains and hills. This technique is called "ChiauDiou" (clever carving), which often greatly enhances the value of a sculpture of jade and agate. It has a very bright red toumerant-like jame stone cover.
Size: 3 3/4 (9.5 cm.) h x 1 3/4 (4.4 cm.) w
Provenance: From an important California collector, whose grandfather was a major antique dealer during late Qing Dynasty and early Republic, and was a patron of painters Wu Changshuo and Huang Binhong