A WHITE JADE 'BUTTERFLY' SNUFF BOTTLE, POSSIBLY IMPERIAL, 18TH CENTURY
China. Well hollowed, the flattened globular body supported on a flat oval foot and rising to a short waisted neck with a straight lip. Finely carved on either side in relief with a strictly formalized design showing a pair of confronted butterflies, their antennas interlocked and resplendent wings spread out, a style typical of the workshops in Suzhou. The smoothly polished and translucent stone of a fine white tone with very few icy inclusions. Good polish overall, rendering an unctuous feel.


Provenance
: The VWS Collection, acquired by the previous owner’s father (1890-1977) in China during the 1930s and thence by descent within the family. The VWS collection tells the extraordinary story of a family fleeing the Tsarist Empire in Russia. Their journey began in 1903 as the Chinese Eastern Railway, the eastern branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway, was completed. Fleeing, like others, a climate of political persecution and anti-Semitism, the family settled in Harbin, the most northerly city in China and started to develop its businesses from 1906 onwards. Like many others, they were attracted to this cosmopolitan place, then a major economic and cultural center in Manchuria, because of its large Jewish community. In Harbin, the father, a cultured, open-minded and multilingual man, felt at home and his early successes in business earned him respect. By 1932, he and his family were forced to flee again, following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and found a new home in Shanghai. From there, his businesses took him to Hong Kong, North America, and other Asian countries, where the family would remain for many years. They began collecting art in China during the 1930s and these artworks have remained with the family heirs ever since.

Condition
: Very good condition with minor wear and minuscule nibbling.


Butterflies
are a popular motif in China for their highly auspicious meaning, representing the wish for ‘accumulation of blessings’ (fudie). Designs with pairs of butterflies suggest the duplication of an auspicious wish, since the character for butterfly (die) is a homophone for ‘repeat’ (die). It also a homophone with ‘die’ meaning ‘over seventy or eighty years of age’, and thus expresses a wish for longevity. Butterflies also symbolize happiness in marriage and everlasting romantic love. The latter interpretation is due to a number of traditional Chinese stories in which butterflies play a significant part. Feng Menglong (1574-1646), for example, narrates the popular story of the ‘butterfly lovers’ Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, who are transformed into butterflies after death. The philosopher Zhuangzi's famous dream of being a butterfly also made them symbols of the boundary between dream and reality.

Stopper: Carnelian with gilt-metal collar
Weight: 51.3 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 63 mm. Diameter neck 21 mm and mouth 6 mm


Auction result comparison:

Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 May 2013, lot 133
Price: HKD 400,000 or approx.
EUR 60,500
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white jade ‘kui dragon’ snuff bottle, possibly Imperial, Qing dynasty, mid-18th / early 19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related white color and the highly formalized design, here with interlocked dragons instead of interlocked butterflies.




十八世紀白玉蝴蝶紋鼻煙壺


中國，掏膛良好，壺口外撇，束頸，四角圓肩，扁平壺身，橢圓形足。兩側精雕細琢，一對蝴蝶，觸角交錯，羽翼展開，這是蘇作的典型風格。白玉光滑半透明，細膩瑩潤，内含細微絮狀物。


來源：
VWS 收藏，前主人的父親 (1890-1977)於上世紀三十年代在中國購得，保存在同一家族至今。The VWS collection收藏講述了一個家庭逃離沙皇俄羅斯帝國的非凡故事。他們的旅程始於 1903 年，當時西伯利亞大鐵路東部支線中東鐵路竣工。和其他人一樣，為了逃離政治迫害和反猶太主義的環境，全家定居在中國最北端的城市哈爾濱，並從 1906 年開始發展業務。像許多其他人一樣，他們被這個國際化的城市吸引，因為這裡有龐大的猶太社區，當時這裡是滿洲的主要經濟和文化中心。在哈爾濱，父親是一個有教養、思想開放、會說多種語言的人，他早年在商業上的成功為他贏得了尊重。1932 年，日本入侵滿洲後，他和家人再次被迫逃離，並在上海找到了新家。從那裡開始，他的生意將他帶到了香港、北美和其他亞洲國家，他的家人在那裡待了很多年。他們於 1930 年代開始在中國收藏藝術品，這些藝術品自此一直由家族繼承人保管。

品相：
狀況非常好，有輕微磨損和磕損。

壺蓋: 玉髓，金屬托片
重量：51.3 克
尺寸：總高63 毫米，頸部直徑 21毫米，壺口直徑6毫米


拍賣結果比較：

形制：非常相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2013年5月26日，lot 133
價格：HKD 400,000（相當於今日
EUR 60,500
）
描述：清十八世紀中葉 / 十九世紀初白玉仿古「夔龍」紋鼻煙壺或御製
專家評論：比較非常相近的白玉顏色、外形，但僅有相連的龍而不是相連的蝴蝶。