Hi All
As some of you probably noticed, I have posted several bottles with
Liu Hai and his three-legged toad under the Figural Snuff Bottle thread.
For some unknown reason, I happen to acquire several bottles of this theme although I did not actively seek for it.
Maybe, this is what the Chinese called 'fate' (缘份).
Here is another
Liu Hai bottle that comes with a story:
Not long ago, I was communicating with Robert Kleiner on some other issues and he directed me to his revamped website.
Upon visiting the website, a three colour agate bottle immediately caught my attention. It is one of those rare 'love at first sight, must have' bottles!
I immediately email him for the details. To my dismay, he informed me that the bottle has already been sold.
Days later while I was catching up with a local collector and viewing his collection, to my surprise, the same bottle was in his collection! I instantly asked whether he is willing to part with this bottle and to my delight, he agreed!
So, here you go:
A very rare agate snuff bottle, skilfully carved using the natural colours in the material to depict
Liu Hai dangling a string of cash in front of a three-legged toad, the reverse with a figure in long robes, catching a fish, the base covered in waves,
Suzhou school, 1770-1850. Height: 52 mm.
The above description was taken from Robert's website. For those of you who are interested, here is the link:
http://www.robertkleiner.co.uk/images.php?id=12There is a five character incised inscription filled with black on the side, which read Live Water from the Source (源头活水来).
According to Robert, the wave carving on the base is extremely rare on
Suzhou bottles. Another similar example is in his father's collection, published in The White Wings Collection, bottle number 116.
He informed me that this bottle was from the collection of two New York doctors, Gerald and Mary Kaufman.
Enjoy!
Richard
