Chinese Snuff Bottle Discussion Forum 中國鼻煙壺討論論壇

Hi,

This bottle, in my opinion, is quite interesting. It is carved with common Chinese auspicious themes such as the deer and lingzhi, a bat, lotus, etc, but the neck is carved with two dogs. I am not even sure they are typical pekingene dogs as these dogs look quite western to me.

I am curious to know whether you guys have any references to these type of dogs on snuff bottle s chinese art in general.

Kindest Regards,

Marcos
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09179_zpsqhp2yiig.jpg&hash=9e14c73e18087c07135c64662fccd3f1) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09179_zpsqhp2yiig.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09178_zps3mggsido.jpg&hash=73407b915bd44ae3920760de3561f953) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09178_zps3mggsido.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09177_zpslkddw10c.jpg&hash=238cf2802f9a55eca109ad4f86d45b9c) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09177_zpslkddw10c.jpg.html)

Can you share a pic of the base please?   I can see the neck is beveled, but is it also convex on top as compared to flat ?

The carver purposely hollowed it this way leaving extra thick walls so as to display the beauty of the what I think can be Citrine. Light yellow or lemon yellow Citrine like this is also called Lemon Quartz. 

I will take a guess that the dogs might be Chinese pit bulls.

Beautiful and hopefully someone else can help a little more. 

Here is one described as light yellow citrine, and carved in similar low relief style as yours..
http://fengchunma.com/wre-39-carved-citrine-snuff-bottle/

Dear Marcos,
this is just a guess, because I do not have any particular information or study to support what I am saying. In my opinion, the two opposite faces of animals, rings, etc. that we often see on snuff bottles are reminiscence of vases handles. They do not have any function, they are there just for aesthetics but anyway inspired by those of the vases. Now, I have never seen such dog faces, on really many handles of vases that I have seen. My feeling is that this is not positive, it is pointing toward a modern  production. But it is just a guess, I can’t be sure because the carving of the bottle (deer, bat, etc.) are not visible in the pictures so it is not possible to date the bottle by the more important detail of the style and quality of the carving.
Kind regards
Giovanni

Dear George,

I am attaching photographs of different angles and from the base.

Hi Giovanni,

I agree with you the dogs don´t appear to be typically chinese and I have never seem this motif in bronze or ceramic. On the other hand, the carvings are very good. I tried to photograph the bottle from different angles, but you can only see the beauty of the carvings when the bottle is moving in the hand.

Best Regards,

Marcos

(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09184_zpsz3k2eqfv.jpg&hash=cfa8336370c1ded077cca4264598c063) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09184_zpsz3k2eqfv.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09185_zps67968wad.jpg&hash=e66188ea9d6749c95e03c7b75ceb27d1) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09185_zps67968wad.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09186_zpsipgaaubk.jpg&hash=bc86abb0469d64c7f07573f160511918) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09186_zpsipgaaubk.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09187_zps9d3j2fyq.jpg&hash=c422c584b7d84eca4d6504ec0e3bd079) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09187_zps9d3j2fyq.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09188_zpsjakrcnmf.jpg&hash=4660f938fe0d4f7224eaa671f3e2f2cc) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09188_zpsjakrcnmf.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09191_zpsj6u8sjwe.jpg&hash=8f28e2aa7231ead7f96d58c78871be7f) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09191_zpsj6u8sjwe.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09190_zpsryfo4qv2.jpg&hash=3b8d41fe15261bf64e5bee6b1bd47ec0) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09190_zpsryfo4qv2.jpg.html)
(https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1064.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fu365%2Fmarcosrvisconti%2Fcitrine%2FDSC09189_zpsrc5y9nf0.jpg&hash=c4bcc67c8215c53960a4e7af70461a77) (http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/marcosrvisconti/media/citrine/DSC09189_zpsrc5y9nf0.jpg.html)

Well, I can not add anything else after looking at this last group of pis Marcos.

Still looks like citrine to me.  :) 

Fulford seems like it could be a common name, but there are some references to Fulford collections online..