AN IMPERIAL CINNABAR LACQUER ‘ZHANG SHENG’S DREAM’ SNUFF BOTTLE, CHINA, 1730-1830
Attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing. Of flattened ovoid form, deeply carved through the layers of cinnabar lacquer with a continuous landscape scene divided by rockwork and trees, one side with Zhang Sheng sleeping at his desk on a covered porch, as he sleeps a wispy line representing the dreams of the young scholar swirls above his head, flowing and spreading into the other side of the bottle showing him in a passionate embrace with his forbidden love, Cui Yingying, all on a variety of diaper grounds.


Provenance:
Galerie Max in Brussels, Belgium, 19 February 1966 (according to an ancient family ledger inspected by Cabinet Portier, Paris, France, during their appraisal of the complete de Strycker estate; this ledger remains in the possession of the de Strycker family and may not be copied). Collection of Robert and Isabelle de Strycker, acquired from the above and thence by descent in the same family. Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) was a French engineer who specialized in metallurgy. He was a Stanford graduate, a professor at the University of Leuven, a director of the Institute of Metallurgy at the Université Catholique de Louvain, and one of the most influential members of the faculty of applied sciences. After World War II, he made large contributions to France’s post-war recovery. Robert and his wife Isabelle (1915-2010) first encountered Chinese art at the British Museum during a stay in London in the 1930s. Enamored with the style and beauty, they both decided to study and collect Chinese works of art. In 1938 they eventually began to build their collection, buying from Belgian, Parisian, and English dealers. They kept close contact with the famous English collector Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977) and noted Czech collector and expert Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976). In 1964, the couple lent 174 objects from their collection to the Belgian city of Leuven’s museum for an exhibition titled Oude kunst in Leuvens Privébezit (‘Old Art in Private Collections in Leuven’), and in 1967 they lent around thirty Japanese objects to the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels for their exhibition Kunst van Japan im belgischen Privatverzameingen (‘Japanese Art in Belgian Private Collections’).

Condition:
Good condition with minor wear and expected manufacturing irregularities, small natural age cracks, minuscule nicks, and a few tiny losses and old fills.

Stopper: Matching chrysanthemum-form cinnabar lacquer stopper with a gilt bronze knop and platelet, metal spoon
Weight: 64.6 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 7.2 cm. Diameter neck 1.9 cm and mouth 0.5 cm


This is a classic imperial lacquer

snuff bottle on bronze.
The group of bottles represents masterly carving in lacquer that is splendidly sculptural and covers a range of delightful subject matter, usually drawn from popular dramas, operas or novels, or myths and legends. We can be sure that the group as a whole was imperial, even if we cannot be sure that every last example was made for the court. If they were for example made in Suzhou, the same workshops might have made a few pieces for private sale as well.


The snuff bottle depicts a famous scene from the Romance of the Western Chamber,
written by Wang Shifu (1250-1300), a story immensely popular with all levels of society. Woodblock illustrations in the many editions helped conventionalize images that were instantly recognizable to the public, thus creating a corpus of motifs that was widely used by jade carvers, painters, silk embroiderers, lacquer workers, and other craftsmen.


Professor Herbert Giles
, whose History of Chinese Literature was published in 1924, refers to The Xixiang Ji as the play “which will best repay reading”. It is the typical story where a handsome student and a beautiful girl attempt to cross the social divide, aided and incited by the girl's maid. The dialogue is punctuated with images of wind, snow, moonlight, and flowers, emphasizing both the passion and the romance felt by the struggling couple.


Literature comparison:

Four cinnabar lacquer bottles from this group carved with figural scenes are in the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and are illustrated in Masterpieces of Snuff Bottles in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1995, pp. 187-90, nos. 192-95. Another is illustrated in Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 7, Part 1, Hong Kong, 2009, pp. 175-82, no. 1538.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 20 March 2012, lot 66
Price: USD 25,000 or approx.
EUR 31,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A carved cinnabar lacquer snuff bottle, probably Imperial, possibly Palace workshops, 1730-1820
Expert remark: Note the size (5.7 cm)


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 22 March 2007, lot 7
Price: USD 20,400 or approx.
EUR 28,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine carved lacquer snuff bottle, probably Imperial, attributed to the Palace workshops, Beijing, 1730-1820
Expert remark: Note the size (6.35 cm)




1730-1830
年御製剔犀《西廂記》場景鼻煙壺


疑爲內務府造辦處所製。束頸，豐肩，剔犀層層深雕《西廂記》場景。張生投宿於客店，睡夢中鶯鶯追趕而來。構圖生動，用線條表現夢，延申到兩人相依相擁的場景。四周岩石樹木叢生，上方雲霧繚繞，更加貼切夢境。


來源：
比利時布魯塞爾 Max藝廊，1966年2月19日 (根據法國巴黎 Cabinet Portier 在對整個 de Strycker 莊園進行評估時檢查過的一份家族帳本所記載；該帳本仍由 de Strycker 家族所有，不得複製)。Robert與Isabelle de Strycker收藏，購於上述藝廊，在同一家族保存至今。Robert de Strycker (1903-1968) 是一位法國冶金工程師。他畢業於史丹佛大學，曾是魯汶大學教授，同時也是魯汶天主教大學冶金研究所所長，是應用科學學院最有影響力的成員之一。二戰後，他為法國的戰後復興做出了巨大貢獻。Robert與他的妻子Isabelle （1915-2010）於 上世紀三十年代在大英博物館首次接觸到中國藝術。因爲其風格和美感所吸引，他們決定研究和收藏中國藝術品。1938 年，他們開始建立自己的收藏，從比利時、巴黎和英國經銷商處購買。他們與英國著名收藏家Harry Garner爵士（1891-1977）和捷克著名收藏家兼專家Fritz Low-Beer (1906-1976）保持著密切聯繫。1964 年，這對夫婦將他們收藏的 174 件物品借給了比利時魯汶市博物館，用於一場名為 Oude kunst in Leuvens Privébezit（“魯汶私人收藏中的藝術”）的展覽，1967 年，他們將大約30件日本藝術品借給了 布魯塞爾皇家藝術與歷史博物館的展覽 Kunst van Japan im belgischen Privatverzameingen（“比利時私人收藏中的日本藝術”）。

品相
：
狀況良好，有輕微磨損和製造缺陷、自然老化裂紋、微小的刻痕、缺損和相應的修補。

壺蓋: 菊花紋剔犀，鎏金銅鈕，金屬小勺
重量：64.6 克
尺寸：含蓋高7.2 釐米，頸部直徑1.9 釐米，壺口直徑 0.5 釐米


銅胎剔犀鼻煙壺
，雕刻精美，工藝精湛。此類鼻煙壺通常取材於流行戲劇或小說、神話傳說中的場景。


王實甫（
1250-1300
）所著的《西廂記》
廣為流傳。許多版本中的木版插圖有助於將圖像常規化，百姓可輕易識別，廣爲玉雕師、畫家、絲繡師、漆工和其他工匠使用。


1924 年出版了《中國文學史》的 Herbert Giles 教授將《西廂記》
稱為“讀後感最好的文學著作”。這是一個典型的愛情故事，一個英俊的書生和一個美麗的閨中少女在婢女的幫助和煽動下試圖跨越社會鴻溝。對話中穿插著風花雪月，更加突出強調了這對年輕人所感受到的激情和浪漫。


文獻比較：

四件剔犀人物紋鼻煙壺，現藏於北京故宮博物院清宮藏，插圖見《故宮博物院藏鼻煙壺精品展》，北京，1995年，頁187-90，圖192-95。另一件見Moss，Graham，Tsang，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles，The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷七，第1部分，香港，2009年，頁 175-82，編號1538。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約邦瀚斯，2012年3月20日，lot 66
價格：USD 25,000（相當於今日
EUR 31,000
）
描述：1730-1820年剔紅人物紋鼻煙壺或為宮庭作坊御製品
專家評論：請注意尺寸(5.7 厘米)。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2007年3月22日，lot 7
價格：USD 20,400（相當於今日
EUR 28,000
）
描述：1730-1820年剔紅人物紋鼻煙壺或為宮庭作坊御製品
專家評論：請注意尺寸(6.35 厘米)。