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

Dear Members,

I recently purchased this blue glass bottle. I believe it to be authentic Yan Yutian, probably early 20th Century and well-painted featuring a traveler and camel in a mountain scene. It is about 3 inches tall.

Thank you,

Brian

Yes, authentic, and congratulations on a wonderful bottle ! Camels were among his favorite things to paint..

Nice..... congratulations

Pin

Cheers Brian!

Rheuben

Thank you. I am very happy about this first very nice addition to my collection. I like the traveler/merchant with camel scene since I am fascinated by the history of the Silk Road. From what I understand, camels were only really used in the western provinces such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. The traveler appears to be wearing Manchu costume. Moss's book, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, says that Yan Yutian was himself a Manchu and not Han Chinese.

Hi Brian,

Love the bottle, a Yan Yutian was the first "proper" IP bottle I bought and it's a nice feeling to have the sense your collection is improving by upping the quality in it. Not 100% sure of my Yan Yutian though  :-\

Regards, Adrian.

Hi Brian

Lovely  bottle !  How much did  you pay for  it? (Please  feel  free to reply by  private  message, if you  wish)

My  one  and  only  Middle  Period  IPB  is  by  Yan Yutian -  but  not a  touch  on yours

Cheers

Peter

I just purchased a copy of Bob Steven's book, so hopefully I can get more info about Yutian.

Dear Brian,
very nice bottle, and interesting also because of the signature, if that is the signature.
YYT was not so keen in signing for what I see; I have/had seven bottles from him, and none was signed.
Your one and mine one that I am posting here are among the few painted in colored glass.
Kind regards
Giovanni

Hi Giovanni,

Thank you for sharing your amber colored bottle. As far as I know, the signature is that of Yan Yutien (閻玉田). Here is a clear bottle painted by Yutian with a traveler and camel from the Crane Collection (dated c. 1895). I believe our bottles are a bit later, perhaps 1900-1910 (Yutian was believed to paint from about 1888 to 1910; Steven tells me colored glass was not popular until at least 1900). Some also claim Zhou Leyuan was his master and he signed his master's name on many of his earliest bottles.

http://www.thecranecollection.com/the-collection/inside-painted/middle-school/?tx_ttproducts_pi1%5BbackPID%5D=60&tx_ttproducts_pi1%5Bproduct%5D=296&cHash=b358ef4ef9

http://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/index.php?topic=35.0

Does anyone know what the stopper is made out of? It is very opaque ans has virtually no illumination even with a flashlight behind it.

I'm not sure what that stopper is made of. Is it blue, with a cat's eye effect, as it appears in the picture? My first thought was blue tiger's eye, but it looks a little too highly reflective and shiny for that. If you were to cut a star sapphire without orienting it properly, mabye you could get more of a cat's eye than a star, but I'd think you'd see some inclusions. Could it be a sapphire synthetic of some kind?

I can not ID it from the pic...

These are the best pics I could get of it. There are some inclusions, but they are hard to see. There are some red inclusions as well as light gray.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/503666184/multicolor-tigers-eye-18mm?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=blue%20tiger%20eye%20cabochon&ref=sr_gallery_10
This is a link to an example of some blue tigereye. It often has some yellowish tigereye mixed in, as shown here, and then it is sometimes referred to as Hawk's eye, but it is possible sometimes to just cut a blue tiger eye stone. That could be what you have. But I'm not sure.

Looks like blue tigers eye it is !

Looks like you've nailed it Ilene!
But isn't the blue variety called hawk's eye...?

Tom

I think your right Tom...

Sorry. I just saw your comment. My understanding has always been that it's hawk's eye when it has some gold in the blue, but it can also be 100% blue, in which case it is called blue tiger eye. (However, I have to admit that could just be what the people I know have said and may not be accurate for the industry. Personally, all the blue I've seen has also had at least some gold in it.)

Dear Brian,

     Your bottle looks genuine, and I had 2 of the larger Yan Yutian bottles in blue glass.
I have gone off the larger examples, because holding them to examine the painting causes cramps in my hands. That is why I prefer smaller bottles, which fit in my hand easily.
Best,
Joey