Hildegard Schonfeld Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles

[George]

The Hildegard Schonfeld Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles auction on March 21 as part of Christie’s Spring Asian Art Week. This sale of 116 lots includes rare examples in glass, jade, agate and porcelain.

March 21..

A little about Hildegard Schonfeld

Born in Schweinfurt, Germany, Hildegard Schonfeld (1923-2010) came to the United States in 1936 on the famous Kinder Transport, a rescue effort, which brought German Jewish children to safety in England and America. In 1947 she wed Sidney and the family settled in New Jersey, where they were active philanthropists, devoting much attention to local causes and Jewish charities. Hilde developed a passion for Asian art on her many trips to Japan with her husband. In 1973, on a fateful trip to San Francisco, they wandered into an antique shop where Hilde’s eyes were attracted to two small bottles and her new interest was piqued enough to attend a snuff bottle auction soon after. Thus began her collecting journey with her husband.

Hilde dedicated much time to refining and educating her eye, befriending dealers and scholars and absorbing all the available material on the subject. She kept impeccable records on each of her purchases, citing its provenance, related examples and including any later correspondence regarding a particular bottle. Her collection became so well respected selections of her bottles appeared on the cover of the Journal of the International Snuff Bottle Society in 1996 and 1997. Following her passing, Hilde’s two children have decided to present her collection to the public, with the hope that each bottle would bring the same excitement to a new or a seasoned collector that it did to their mother.

A couple of highlights...

Lot 1107 - A Very Rare Carved Green and Pink Tourmaline Snuff Bottle
Imperial, Palace Workshops, 1760-1799
2 in. high
Estimate: $40,000-60,000

This remarkable two-color snuff bottle is part of the rare group of early Imperial semi precious stone bottles that can now be dated within the latter part of the 18th century. Decorated with an archaistic design, the style of carving of this bottle can be linked to a well-known group of bottles attributed to the Palace Workshops of the late Qianlong period. The use of dichromatic material is extremely rare and this bottle is one of three known.

Lot 1077 - A Finely Carved White Jade Snuff Bottle
Zhiting School, Suzhou, 1760-1840
2 ½ in. high
Estimate: $30,000-40,000

The name “Zhiting School” has been applied to this particular celebrated group of jade and agate carvings from Suzhou. The present example from the Zhiting School is carved in slightly higher relief than the low-relief style associated with earlier Qing jade carvings from Suzhou, and features a continuous scene of a grotto with a sage seated beside a brazier and a double gourd.

Lot 1078 - A Very Rare Famille-Rose Enameled And Molded Porcelain Snuff Bottle
Imperial, Jingdezhen Kilns, Qianlong Four-Character Seal Mark In Iron Red And Of The Period, (1740-1756)
2 ¼ in. high
Estimate: $40,000-60,000

During the Qianlong period, a series of spectacular enameled porcelain snuff bottles was produced in very small quantities for the Court, setting the standard for Imperial production of porcelain snuff bottles into the Daoguang period. This rare example was likely produced in the late 1740’s or early 1750’s and demonstrates the strong influence of Tang Ying’s style and quality of enameling. Clearly inspired by imperial examples, the central scene depicts boys at play, a favorite subject on Qing-dynasty works of art, which symbolizes the continuation of the family line.

This pink tourmaline bottle is probably my favorite..
 


There is also a rare Early Ma Shaoxuan rock crystal bottle

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear George,

   A few corrections to that info about Hilde, of blessed memory. She died in Mar. 2001, not 2010. Her wonderful sweet husband, Sid, died in 2010. He was also a Jewish boy from Germany, but he got out with his family, from what they told me. Hilde's parents got out at the same time (late 1938 or 1939, but after Kristallnacht, in any event). They met when Hilde was meeting her parents' ship in NY harbour.
And, the impeccable records Hilde 'kept' were written by me.

   I met Hilde at an auction of Sotheby's at their York Avenue & 72nd St. venue in NYC, in June 1982. Every hair was in place, and she was dressed impeccably. When she introduced herself ("I'm Hildegarde Schoenfeld and I saw you are an expert. Could I take you out to lunch and ask you questions about snuff bottles?"), I thought she was a German, and not OUR kind (Jewish).

    Sorry any Germans, but, after almost 7 million of us were murdered, I'm understandably 'nervous' around Germans who could have been doing the killing 1939-1945). I made some sort of excuse (though Charll and Steven know, I NEVER refuse a meal!), and threw her card away as soon as she was out of sight.

    In Feb. 1983, I was at the Chinese New Year Banquet of the NYC snuff bottle group (at the time over 30 members!), and met a really 'heimishe' (welcoming), friendly German Jewish man, Sid Schoenfeld. Then I met his wife, who introduced herself as Hilde, and she said we'd met before. I said I thought not. She reminded me of the auction, and I said,"No, I met a GERMAN woman!". She said, "I'm from Germany". And I said, "but you're a Jew, NOT a German!". Everyone, including Gerd Lester, who was German and not Jewish (but had been an anti-Nazi political refugee from Nazism, and was married to Pauline, who was Jewish), all laughed.

    We were very good friends from then, to her death in Feb./Mar.2001,  a few years before my beloved mom's death in Sept. 2004, except for a few years after she had behaved badly and we weren't speaking, from 1993 to 1996. I forgave her and we were back to being good friends. I NEVER had a problem with Sid, and it was his request that I forgive her, that helped us get back as friends.

    I started cataloguing Hilde's collection, and helping her choose bottles to upgrade her collection, from summer of 1983. I would come to NYC, stay at the Waldorf Astoria or the Helmsley Towers a few days, then Hilde would pick me up with my stuff, we'd hit Zabar's for goodies, and drive via Ft. Lee, NJ, to Tenafly, where they lived. I'd catalogue bottles, Hilde would cook or bake, and I'd cajole her to get rid of crap and buy one great instead of three mediocre (and she had the werewithal - Sid had INVENTED 'water-packed tuna' and sold his company to Matsui Corp for beaucoup bucks!), and she could buy 10 or 20 great at a time!
  
     We'd go out to dinner with Sid - they had a great 'local' Japanese restaurant, Honda's in  Ft. Lee, and a bunch of other really good restaurants - and Hilde would always remind me, with a smile, how I'd refused her first invite to a meal - and we'd all laugh at the story. After dinner, we'd return to cataloguing, and after another hour or two, Sid would arrive in Hilde's 'office' with dishes of sliced fruit, "so we should keep up our strength!".

      I must have done it once a year from 1983 to 1993, and then from 1996 till 2000, when  Hilde got cancer. And I was already taking care of my mom who also had cancer, from Oct. 2000 till her death in late Sept.2004.
 
    Every August, a bunch of us (snuff bottle collectors) mainly from NYC/NJ/Boston/DC, and me, as well as dealers from all over (NEVER Hugh Moss - not POSH enough for him!), would meet at Eldred's, last week of August, for a week of Asian Art sales, including a late afternoon/ early evening snuff bottle auction on the Thursday. We'd all meet at the cottage of Bernie and the late Fran Wald of NYC (they rented the same one in Hyannisport for 50 years, and it had an area with picnic tables), for spaghetti, meatballs in tomato sauce, and salad, on Thursday, a few hours before the snuff bottle auction.

    Then we'd drive in convoy to Eldred's in East Dennis for the auction. After the second one at which Hilde and Sid took part, I ALWAYS reminded Hilde to bring a spare suit to it. She insisted on wearing a white suit (it was summer, my dear!), and rich red tomato sauce with meatballs and white suits don't go well together! But you couldn't convince Hilde to 'dress down' as ALL the other ladies did for this meal, nor to wear an apron! So I took to reminding her to bring a spare suit for the inevitable stain (and EVERY year she got tomato sauce stains on her Dior suit! Once even on her Manolo Blahniks!).
  
    She had some great bottles, and was a good person ... May her memory be for a blessing.
Joey
  

[George]

Beautiful story, and wonderful memories.. Thank you for sharing them with us Joey..

[George]

Auction results....

My favorite of the lot, the green and pink tourmaline sold for 170,000..

What a beauty ....

[Steven]

Wow, never thought it can be that expensive.

The MSX bottle also fetched 40,000

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

George,
    I was taught to call that green & rose-pink tourmaline "Watermelon Tourmaline". Is that a 'dealer's spiel' type name, or a genuine name used by gemologists?
The fact that the Ma Shaoxuan 'Bai Sui Tu' example achieved US$40K doesn't surprise me.
Joey

[George]

I don't know for sure if Watermelon is a gemologists term...

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

That's what I figured, George.
Another 'Dealer's term', useful for selling the stuff, but not scientific.
Joey

[Wattana]

My favorite of the lot, the green and pink tourmaline sold for 170,000..

What a beauty ....

Hi George,

My favorite too! I was staggered by the selling price. I've always wanted a bi-clolor tourmaline bottle. Guess I can bury that dream!

[Wattana]

    I was taught to call that green & rose-pink tourmaline "Watermelon Tourmaline". Is that a 'dealer's spiel' type name, or a genuine name used by gemologists?

Joey,
    Tourmaline comes in many, many colors. Some are two-color, the most commonly seen being the so-called "watermelon", where the "skin" is green and the interior pink. I have read that this variety comes from Brazil. However, there is another green-pink combo where the pink is outside, and the green inside, which comes from Africa. One of my geological books does describe the former as 'watermelon tourmaline' (alongside its long chemical formula). But that is because the book attempts to list all the dealer and trade names, to facilitate identification and clear any confusion.
    Either way, the Schonfeld bottle is quite unusual in that the two colors are both wide, making it impossible to say which is the 'skin', and which the interior color.
Tom

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Thank you Tom, George, et al.
   Every once in a while I come across a term which I learned in my teens in the 1970s, in the 10 years after I started collecting, and which I'd accepted as a valid term. And then I have to assimilate the fact that it was a term made up by dealers to sell their wares.
  Oh well... 
Joey

[Wattana]

Joey,
    Dubious dealer terms are not limited to the world of snuff bottles. Furniture dealers have their equals. I was once offered a "genuine late Ming video cabinet"! 

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Tom L.,
   Why would you automatically assume that a "genuine late Ming video cabinet" was not in fact genuine?
Are you really so racist as to think that the Chinese in the late Ming Dynasty would not store their videos in a cabinet?!
Or that they were actually really early Qing videos, and not late Ming at all?
I must confess, sometimes I'm shocked at the lack of PC (Political Correctness, not Progressive Conservative!) on this Forum! 
Joey 

[Wattana]

Joey,
    I naturally borrowed a late Ming video from another dealer, and it didn't fit inside the cabinet. That's how I knew it was a mid-Qing copy!!! 

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Tom L.,
   Oh, in that situation, I can understand your comment. 
Joey

  In Bunclody (the village near my home in County Wexford, Ireland), there used to be an 'antique shop'. The owner once sold me a "genuine antique reproduction chaise longue in authentic green draylon" !
I bought it because I loved the description! And I had it in my first sitting room for years. And I always described it to guests in that exact phrase. 
   I think it is up the yard in one of the 'overflow' guest buildings.
Joey