Snuff Dishes

[richy88]

Hi All

Posting a few snuff dishes in my collection.

The first is a jade snuff dish, the stone of greyish white colour with splashes of dark green inclusions. The dish is of oval shape. 35 x 32 mm (length x width) 19th century. Provenance: Eric Young

Enjoy!


Richard

[YT]

Dear Richard,

That is a very nice snuff dish especially green 'splash'. Looks like Emerald green.

Cheers,
YT

[George]

Nice one Richard !

[joearp]

Beautiful Richard.  I too like the splashes of darker green.  Jo

[Wattana]

Nice dish Richard!  I too like the green splashes.

Looking forward to seeing more.

Tom

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Richard,
     Very nice snuffdish/snuff saucer (an alternate name I've heard used among older UK collectors).
Thank you for posting.
Shabbat Shalom,
    Joey

[richy88]

Hi All

Thank you for all your comments.

This is another jade snuff dish, the stone of even pale caledon tone. Diameter: 53 mm.
19th century. Provenance: Eric Young

Enjoy!



Richard

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Richard,
    Another beautiful example! Thank you for posting it.
Shabbat Shalom,
    Joey

[Wattana]

Hi Richard,

Another beauty!
I have a question - are the small black numerical inscriptions in the base of these dishes Eric Young's marks?

Tom

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Tom,
    I'd assume they are the registration numbers from the museum in St. Heliers, Jersey, where Eric of blessed memory left his collection.
  Shabbat Shalom,
     Joey

Hi Richard,

Another beauty!
I have a question - are the small black numerical inscriptions in the base of these dishes Eric Young's marks?

Tom

[Wattana]

Dear Joey,

I actually wrote in my message to Richard that the marks "look like museum acquisition numbers", but then deleted the comment before hitting 'send'.

Are you saying that all Eric Young's snuff bottles were sold off by the museum, and not by his estate?

Tom

[richy88]

Hi Tom/Joey

Yes, those marks are typical of Eric Young's collection, both in his snuff dishes and bottles but I am not sure whether they are museum registration numbers.

Regards.


Richard

[Wattana]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the clarification.

Regards,
Tom

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Tom, Richard, et al,
    Let me explain what happened to Eric Young's collection after his death.
He had bequeathed his whole collection and an additional 20 million UKL of his 56 million UK£ estate to the museum in St. Heliers, Jersey (Channel Islands) with the proviso that they could weed out (ie, sell) bottles "to improve the quality of the collection".
     The curator didn't care about Chinese Snuff Bottles; he loved Crusader art and illuminated Medieval MSS. So he used the proviso to sell off the top 98% of Eric's collection. The rest are supposedly languishing in the storeroom, or possibly a few are even on view. But if Crusader art or illuminated MSS. are your thing, hie yourself over to St. Heliers!

     Incidentally, the other love of Eric's life was Orchids, and he built a world famous Orchid Collection and Research Centre on Jersey, and contributed 18 million UKL to it, and another 18 million UKL (over 27 million USD) to another Orchid Collection and Research Center in Palm Beach, FLA. 
     The Jersey Centre is still going strong, but the Palm Beach FLA place went through all the money (cost of living is high in Palm Beach, and 27 million doesn't go as far as you might think.  ), and then gave its Eric Young Orchid Collection to the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Center in Dade County, FLA.

   Best,
    Joey

[richy88]

Hi Joey

Thank you for the background information.

This is another circular jade snuff dish, the stone of even translucent green colour. Diameter: 55 mm.
19th century. Provenance: Bob Stevens, Eric Young

Illustrated in The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles by Bob Stevens, page 23 number 142.

Enjoy!



Richard

[Wattana]

Dear Joey,
    Thank you for the 'inside track'. It is a pity that the wording of a person's will enables beneficiaries to use loopholes to suit their own ends. C'est la vie.

Hi Richard,
    Another great snuff dish. This is my favourite so far.

Tom

[joearp]

My what a story Joey! It is so sad what happened to his collection.

  As a great lover of orchids, I appreciate the rest of the story.

 Glad this beautiful snuff dish ended up in your collection Richard!  Quite a treasure.   Jo

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Jo,
     I'm conflicted over what happened. One the one hand, they should have honoured Eric's desire; on the other hand, Agatha, Rick and I all tried to convince him NOT to lock them up in a museum, which I compared to locking up one's friends in prison, which analogy I think I plagiarised ( ) from Lilla Perry's book. 
   
   Dear Richard,
       Another beautiful snuff dish. Have you compared your snuff dishes to those in the Bob Stevens book and the 1978 Bob Stevens Mikimoto Exhibition catalogue? Eric bought lots of Bob's snuff dishes, as well.

  Best,
    Joey

[joearp]

 Richard- do look at the Bob Stevens Book, snuff bottle dishes pages 18-25, especially # 134, #138 and #142.  Wouldn't it be interesting if you snuff dish is in this book! Do let us know.

Joey I remember reading something along those lines in Lilla Perry's Book.  My sentiments exactly.  Let these bottles have a life among those who love them! 

[richy88]

Hi Joey & Jo

Thanks for your feedback and reminder.

I do know that these snuff dishes from Eric Young were from Bob Stevens' collection except that same of them were not illustrated.

The last one is illustrated in his book and I have updated the post.

I do have the first 3 Bob Stevens' sale catalogues by Sothebys (Part I, II & III) which include many snuff dishes as well but not all items were illustrated. I do not have the 1978 Bob Stevens Mikimoto Exhibition Catalogue, which I am still hunting for a copy.

Regards.


Richard