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Charll shared this beautiful Xianfeng (1851-1861) dated bottle depicting NeZha combating the Dragon King amongst a rolling sea of blue and eight mythical sea creatures.


Chinese Snuff Bottle Discussion Forum 中國鼻煙壺討論論壇
March 28, 2024, 02:07:46 pm
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Another Shenzhen Bottle (or three)

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wgeoff
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« on: November 26, 2014, 12:32:58 am »

We all know this hobby of ours, collecting bottles, is an addiction.

I found time to visit my small inside-painted bottle shop in Shenzen again on Monday, with the intention of maybe coming home with one bottle. Should I be surprised that I ended up with three? Of course not.

They all satisfied my basic requirement that I would enjoy looking at them every day. What else is the value of money? Anyway, they weren't too expensive. And it was a better way of spending my day (and my money) than at the Bloch auction.

Here is the first, a mountain scene of the type I like. The painting is good and I just love this traditional design.

 

 



The date is 2014 I believe - any comments on the Title and Artist's Name?
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« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2014, 01:17:44 am »

Geoff

Nice bottle. I can't see the writing well but there are 3 potential painters that I can think of for it. Liu Yie. Liu Ye. Or Li San. I have bottles signed by those 3 that resemble very much this style.
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« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2014, 01:27:32 am »

Beautiful bottle.. I favor the painting on the front..

Congratulations !
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Wattana
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« Reply #3 on: November 26, 2014, 01:33:33 am »

An appealing bottle Geoff. But I'm biased - I always prefer landscapes to figural paintings. If I had to choose from the two sides, I like the side with the script better (less colourful).

I'm afraid I can't comment on the artist/date.

Tom
PS: Do we get to see the other two...?
« Last Edit: November 26, 2014, 03:35:32 am by Wattana » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2014, 03:27:12 am »

Hi Geoff :

The title of the bottle is 秋色 = the colour of autumn

The artist is 张涛 (Zhang Tao) and he draw this bottle this year 2014 甲午年 at his studio call 一品堂 (YiPinTang).....一品 usually means top grade in Chinese..... like the highest official holds the rank of  一品

Pin
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五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

http://www.chinese-snuff-bottle.com

wgeoff
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« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2014, 05:24:46 am »

Thanks Pin and others. That's all very helpful information.

In response to Tom's request, I've renamed this thread and will post the next bottle.

This one is slightly larger than usual, 9 cm tall x 5 cm wide, and I guess is something from the Three Kingdoms.
I really like the way the horses are painted, so much action produced from relatively few brush strokes, compared with my other Three Kingdom bottles which are all precision and perfection but really lack movement.







The calligraphy is not so good, but it's not what I really look at



I think this is a 2013 bottle, but any details about the artist and subject are welcome.
There are small pieces of calligraphy within the scene which no doubt identify the warriors involved

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« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2014, 09:29:36 am »

Thanks for sharing, Geoff.
I agree, lively and fluid brushstrokes on those horses!

Tom
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« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2014, 10:59:32 am »

Hi Geoff

The bottle is about the 3 kingdom

The first pictures with 5 Generals on horse back is described as 五虎上将.... Literally translated as 5 tiger generals .... Those are the 5 main general that served the initial 蜀 (su) kingdom
These 5 generals are

1) 关羽 (KuanYu) - The most famous 3 kingdom general that was later immortalized by people to become the Chinese God of War .... He is described at the bottom left corner with a lace that is fitted with a huge knife at the end....in Chinese opera, he is the Red face
2) 张飞 (ZhangFei) - The general that use a serpentine lace... He,关羽 and 刘备 (LuiBie - the ruler/king of Su kingdom) are sworn brothers. he is the black face in Chinese opera if the show is about 3 kingdom. He is drawn at the bottom right corner of the bottle
3) 赵云 (ZaoYun) - The general that use a lace and is drawn on middle top
4) 黄盖(HuangGai) - The very old general
5) 马超 (MaChao)

On the reverse side of the bottle, top picture .....titled 三英战吕布。It's a battle scenes that describe the 3 sworn brothers (刘备,关羽,张飞) fighting the strongest man at that time, 吕布 (Lu..Bu) who is supporting the old and cruel King of the pervious empire.

The last picture I can't figure out... I can only read 2 out of 4 words...it must be a story that involve 曹操(CaoCao) the prime minister of 魏(Wei) kingdom....

Pin



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五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

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« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2014, 02:51:10 pm »


Geoff, Nice!  Both are wonderful bottles.  The landscape is more to my taste and hope I have more opportunities to purchase such bottles myself. 

Pin, Pure Gold!, as Peter would say.  Thanks for the translation and education on the topic.

Charll
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« Reply #9 on: November 26, 2014, 02:55:45 pm »

Dear Geoff,
    Very nicely painted. I like the way the horses are painted, but prefer the landscapes.
Thank you for posting the two bottles.
Best,
  Joey
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wgeoff
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« Reply #10 on: November 26, 2014, 06:34:25 pm »

Wow Pin, so much good information - and I was only concentrating on the horses!
Thank you so much.

I'll try to sort it out later today, and also post the third bottle if I have time.

Geoff
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« Reply #11 on: November 27, 2014, 01:24:50 am »

Hi Geoff

As Yee Pin has correctly pointed out, the pictures are taken from various scenes in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The last picture that Pin did not decipher is Ý Sh́ Cáo Cāo (义释曹操) where Guan Yu (关羽) let Cao Cao (曹操) escape at Hua Rong Dao (华容道) when Cao Cao fell into the trap after his defeat at the Red Cliff (Chi Bi, 赤壁). This is because Cao Cao has treated Guan Yu very well during his refuge at Cao Cao's territory while looking for his sworn brother, Liu Bei (刘备).

For your reference.

Regards.


Richard
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« Reply #12 on: November 27, 2014, 04:10:22 am »

Thanks for filling the missing gap Richard, and others for their comments and especially Pin for his detailed explanation.

Can anyone point me to a website which has the original illustrations? There are several publishers of Romance of the Three Kingdoms books but do they have the original illustrations? In a single volume?

OK, after an excellent response to the first two bottles, let's try number 3.





I think this is my favourite of the three.
I chose this partly because of the atmospheric effect of a dark sky with bright white spots of snow - it really feels cold - just like a snowstorm.
But it was extremely difficult to keep this effect in a photograph. Photographed in front of a white background, the snow disappeared so I had to change to a dark background as you can see. But photographing against a dark background caused lighting problems. So this is the best I could do but it doesn't do justice to the real bottle.

I think I've seen other bottles with this design/story, I presume it's well known - who are the characters and what is the story?



Again, a 2013 bottle, not very good calligraphy but can anyone read the artists name?
 
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« Reply #13 on: November 27, 2014, 05:14:27 am »

Hi Geoff

You really want to read the Romance of the Three Kingdom !! Shocked..... They fought and romanced for 2 generations of people... its really a very long story....... just like WWI + WWII. Grin

IMHO.... the 3rd bottles has the best calligraphy.... actually quite nice........ I like the 3rd bottle the most

梅花香自苦寒来 is the title of the bottle........ its literally means...... the fragrance of the Plum Flower comes from the bitter cold weather

It comes from this phrase......宝剑锋从磨砺出,梅花香自苦寒来......... means the "sharp edge of the sword comes from the grinding stone.... the fragrance of the Plum flower come from the bitter cold weather."....... its a phrase to tell people that you need to go thru some hardship and experiences in life before you become somebody.... The plum flower represent the virtue of the Chinese Gentleman/Scholar/Sage. Where, despite all the hardship, prevail on the path of righteous and continuous learning to achieve entitlement level and the true way of life.....

I think the artist call himself 秦人 (QinRen) ....literally Qin People.. the clan that is associated (or the descendent) of Qin Shi HuangDi 秦始皇帝, the famous First Emperor of China.......

Pin

P/S : Thanks Richard for figuring out the 3rd Pic.... learn something new too...... thanks
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五花馬,千金裘。呼兒將出換美酒,與爾同銷萬古愁。

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« Reply #14 on: November 27, 2014, 07:12:09 pm »

Thanks Pin, great information. As I said, I can really feel the bitter cold when looking at the bottle.

I can now read the title, painter's name and date. And I agree, the calligraphy is better than I thought, now I have studied it.
But what are the top two characters on the right-hand piece of calligraphy?   

I do think this is the best of the three bottles.

Geoff

PS I've now read a bit more and I realise that plum blossom symbolises the first month of the New Year - hence the snow.
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« Reply #15 on: November 27, 2014, 09:02:14 pm »

Hi Geoff

It reads An Xiang (暗香) meaning Hidden Fragrance.

Regards.


Richard
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« Reply #16 on: November 27, 2014, 09:15:31 pm »

Nice bottle Geoff!  I have a couple of bottles from this artist (Qin Ren).  Eventually they will get posted here...  Just way too busy with work (Q4 in a SEC quoted company is never fun...).
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« Reply #17 on: November 27, 2014, 09:59:06 pm »

Beautiful bottles Geoff !

It has to be a great deal of fun to be able and actually go to a shop and maybe even visit with the artists...

I would be going to as many as I could find !
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« Reply #18 on: November 27, 2014, 11:09:30 pm »


I chose this partly because of the atmospheric effect of a dark sky with bright white spots of snow - it really feels cold - just like a snowstorm. 


Hi Geoff,

This one is also my favourite of the three. I'm guessing those white spots are plum blossom, not snow.

Tom
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« Reply #19 on: November 27, 2014, 11:23:46 pm »

Thank you all for your comments. It's always a pleasure to share the buzz of a recent acquisition with a group of such knowledgeable and appreciative individuals.

Yes George, I will go back as often as I can afford. But at the moment, I'm saving myself for the Singapore Exhibition starting on 12 December.
I'm really looking forward to seeing lots of great bottles and meeting some artists and collectors, like Richard. Not expecting to be able to afford anything - but you never know - the addiction can overwhelm the purse.

Geoff   
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