A WHITE JADE 'DRAGON' SNUFF BOTTLE, CHINA, 18TH CENTURY
Well hollowed, the rounded rectangular body supported on a wide oval foot and rising to a short cylindrical neck with a flat lip. Neatly incised to one side with a ferocious dragon emerging from swirling clouds and exhaling smoke as it reaches for the sacred pearl in the water below, and to the other side with fishermen in a sampan floating along a river, with a pavilion on the shore under a cliff. The base incised with a fruiting peach branch. The translucent stone is of a superb white color, near-absolutely pure, with very few minute cloudy and pale brown inclusions.


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 northernmost 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 only minor wear and minuscule nibbling to the interior of the mouth. Natural inclusions and fissures, mostly invisible to the naked eye.

Stopper: Coral cabochon of good color, carved as a coiled chilong
Weight: 66.6 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 65 mm. Diameter neck 19 mm and mouth 6 mm


Auction comparison:

Type: Related
Auction: Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1574
Price: USD 80,500 or approx.
EUR 94,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white jade ‘kui dragons’ snuff bottle, 1750-1850
Expert remark: Compare the related depiction of dragons and the identical color of the jade.




十八世紀白玉龍紋鼻煙壺

掏膛良好，圓頸，溜肩，長方壺身，橢圓形圈足。一面淺浮雕雲海騰龍，口吐煙霧，水上飛著一顆寶珠；另一面浮雕漁民沿河漂流，下方岸邊有一座亭子。圈足刻有仙桃。半透明玉石，輕微内沁，玉質油潤，雕工細膩，製作精良。


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。VWS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：
狀況極好，只有輕微磨損，壺口內的微小磕損。自然的內沁和天然裂縫，大部分肉眼不可見。

壺蓋：圓面珊瑚，螭龍紋
重量：66.6 克
尺寸：含蓋高 65 毫米，頸部直徑19 毫米，壺口6 毫米


拍賣比較：

形制：相近
拍賣：紐約佳士得，2011年3月24日，lot 1574
價錢：USD 80,500（相當今日
EUR 94,000
）
描述：1750-1850年白玉雕夔龍鼻煙壺
專家註釋：比較相近的龍紋和相同的玉石顏色。