Who can help me to identify the painter of this bottle?

[rosegl]

Hello colleagues,
back on this Forum after a period of fragile health.
There is one recently bought very modern inside painted snuff bottle whose painter I am not able to identify. Can somebody help?

Thanks in advance

Georges

[George]

Welome back Georges !

Hope you have recovered, and are feeling up to snuff again .. 

I can not help with the script, but want to say how much I like each and every one of the insects...

[Wattana]

Hi Georges,

Welcome back to the forum !

To my untrained Western eye the signature looks like Suo Zhenhai.
Here is one of his signatures for comparison......but let's hear from one of our Chinese members.

Regards,
Tom

[aidan31]

Dear Georges-

Both the signature and subject matter appear to be by Suo Zhenhai.  It would be helpful to know where the bottle came from as there are a great many fake Suo bottles being offered in to-day's market.  Suo was a master with natural subjects, insects, birds, animals as well as landscapes.

Best, Rick

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Georges,
    I agree with Rick and Tom. It looks like Suo Zhenhai, and probably is. But there is the issue of fakes. I can't tell, over the internet, though I do like the composition etc, and it says Suo to me.
Joey

[rosegl]

Thanks to all of you for your comments. The provenance of the bottle won't help to solve the problem: I bought it from a colleague in Paris in 2011 who said he had brought it from China, but without further details. Unfortunately, he passed away last year. Let's hope it's not a fake... I like the bugs anyway.

Georges

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Georges,
   Steven has a great eye, and an uncanny ability to judge genuine from fake over the internet.
Hopefully he can tell you.
Best,
 Joey

[Pat - 查尚杰]

Don't know why but this bottle looks familiar to me.  I think David Osborne sold one just like it...

[Steven]

Georges,
   Steven has a great eye, and an uncanny ability to judge genuine from fake over the internet.
Hopefully he can tell you.
Best,
 Joey

Dear Joey,

I am flattered.

I did see the bottle, I will say, I like the bottle very much, the fluent storkes and the way the ink was applied really have the sprite of Suo zhenhai in it.

Congratulations Georges, I personally think its a Suo bottle,I did not see anything that is questionable.. however as other pointed out there are some very good painted Suo's copies out there, I dare not 100% positive sure. Like a suo's student bottle Tom purchased a couple of month ago, if its signed with Suo's name, I might not be able to tell if its suo or not.

-Georges, if you do know when your colleague purchased the bottle, it might help as well, since most of fakes came out after 2006 , if it was purchased before that, I am more confident that is for sure a Suo bottle. As Pet mentioned, Suo's wife sold a lot of Suo bottles at an antique market in Beijing, some unsigned, some undated. Your colleague might purchased from her as well, if that is the case, its a solid provenance..

No matter what, a great looking bottle.

Steven

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Steven,
    I think you forgot a 'not' in the line that starts, "Congratulations Georges..."; ie., that you did NOT see anything questionable. That is what I get from the context, anyway.
   And as for you being flattered; I call it as I see it. You are able to search the internet and find gems, where many, myself first and foremost, fear to tread.
Best,
 Joey

[rosegl]

Dear Steven,
thanks for your comments. Of course, I don't know for sure when my colleague bought the bottle (and we can't ask him any more), but he hold it for a couple of years and did not travel much in the last years of his life. So: 'before 2006' is a probable guess.

Regards

Georges

[MikeChina]

The Calligraphy is Suo Zhen Hai(1944 -- 2006).
Of course, The bottle should be painted before 2006 or the early of 2006.
I have ever visited him many times. I can see many and many bottles like this.
Although I could find the name, Suo Zhen Hai, on each bottle, I am sure that the bottle was not painted by him.
If you love it, you can collect it.
Also I don't think that David Osborne has sold this quality of bottle by Suo.
MikeChina