The Interior Painted Artist Series

[rpfstoneman]

All,

It's a rainy day here along the redwood coast region of Northern California.  As a result I found myself with some time to start pulling some of my IPSBs out of storage to begin the long overdue process of cataloging.  These bottles I picked up in 2019 from William “Bill” Patrick, an inside painted bottle collector, who had them commissioned in China in 2009. 

Each bottle is part of a collection of 12 glass inside painted snuff bottles featuring portraits of famous IPSB painters and an example of one of their interior painted bottles.  Painters represented by the series are Chen Dongshun, Guang Zhong, Li Kechang, Liu Shouben, Ma Shaoxuan, Suo Zhenhai, Wang Baichaun, Wang Xisan, Wu Songling, Xue Jingwan, Ye Zhongsan, and Zhang Wentang.  It is a custom painted set from Bill Patrick’s personal collection.  All bottles are signed by the artist who painted the bottle, which was Wu Yulong in 2009 or Liu Jianchao in 2010.

Ma Shaoxuan    Artist Wu Yulong

Interior Painted Glass Snuff Bottle:                
Artist: Wu Yulong
Contemporary rectangular glass IPSB painted bottle with a portrait of Ma Shaoxuan and the reverse features one of his painted bottles that is reflective of his distinctive style.  The reverse bottle painting representation is that of “The Two Qiao Sisters” dated 1901 from the Collection of Mary and George Block.  Carnelian agate cabochon stopper with a black nylon collar, and wood plug.  No base mark.  Height without stopper is 7.5 cm.

Wu Yulong graduated Hengshui Xisan Inside painting Art Academy in 1998.  He became a professional inside painting artist in Apollo Artwork Co., Ltd in 2003 where he was guided by Mr. Yanbin Hou during this term.  His portrait works are painted on the basis of line drawing.  His work is different from the common market portrait works which are smooth on the surface.  His oil-painting works have been collected by collectors from around the world.

Ma Shaoxuan (1867 – 1939)
There probably is no snuff bottle painter whose work is more valued than that of Ma Shaoxuan.  Ma Shaoxuan was born in Bejing in 1867.  His life was influenced both by his love for traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy and his family background beginning generations earlier in Muslim Turkestan.  His introduction to inside painting came when a family relative with an antique business brought some bottles to a family gathering in the 1880's when he was quite young.  At this time few people could produce such works, so they were quite a rarity.  Like many of those of us who collect these treasures, he was immediately enthralled.  Inquisitive and talented at painting he asked many questions which led to his devoting his life to perfecting this art.  He is perhaps known best for his excellent portrait bottles.  In the 1990's the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society's Educational Fund subsidized an excellent biography of the life of Ma, written by his grandson, Ma Zhengshan.


More of the collection to follow, Charll

[bambooforrest]

Charll, impressive painting!

[snuffmke]

Charll,

This is a great bottle. I've bought many from Bill over the years. Wish I'd gotten this one!

Brian

[rpfstoneman]

Another bottle from the 'Artist Series'.

   
Ye Zhongsan                                               

Interior Painted Glass Snuff Bottle:              
Artist: Wu Yulong
Contemporary rectangular glass IPSB painted bottle with a portrait of Ye Zhongsan and the reverse features one of his painted bottles that is reflective of his distinctive style.  The reverse bottle painting representation is that of “Fish” as illustrated in “Chinse Inside Painting of the Modern Age”, page 33.  Carnelian agate cabochon stopper with a black nylon collar, and wood plug.  No base mark.  Height without stopper is 7.5 cm.

Period: Painted in 2009

Ye Zhongsan (1869 – 1945)
Ye Zhongsan was born in the late Qing Dynasty and lived in Beijing his entire life, and the generations in Ye Family were officials at that time.  Among the traditional inside painting snuff bottles, Ye Zhongsan is regarded as one of four prominent inside painters in the late Qing Dynasty.  He is as famous as Ma Shaoxuan, Zhou Leyuan, and Ding Erzhong.  Ye Zhongsan started to learn internal painting when he was 23 years old.  His early works were mainly imitating Zhou Leyuan's works, and only after well into his painting career did he develop his own painting style.  Among the painting themes, Ye Zhongsan was particularly good at "traditional figure painting" and was a rare human figure painter of the middle period.  However, to cater to the needs of collectors, Ye Zhongsan still painted landscapes, flowers, birds, etc., and most of which were imitating Zhou Leyuan's works.  His character depictions, however, is no doubt the best and classic of Ye Zhongsan works.

Ten more to go!  Charll

[richy88]

Hi Charll

Thanks for sharing these lovely bottles.

However, from the inscription, both bottles are painted by Wu Yulong (吳玉龙) and dated mid-summer, 1985 (Yi Chuo 乙丑) instead of 2009 (Ji Chuo 己丑).

The first character of Yi Chuo and Ji Chuo looks pretty alike. (乙 vs 己)

The date of the first Ma Shaoxuan bottle may be written as 己丑 but carelessly. The second Ye Zhongsan bottle is definitely written as 乙丑.

For your reference.

Regards.


Richard

[George]

Great bottle and fantastic paintings Charll !

[rpfstoneman]

Richard,

Thank you for the correction of the artist as being Wu Yulong on the Ye Zhongsan portrait bottle.  My original notes were a bit hard to read.  However, on the date that bottles were painted, Bill Patrick made the following comment when I purchased the bottles.   

"Bottles whose names are in bold (i.e., on the invoice) were painted in 2009 by Wu Yulong.  He left painting to try to become a graphic artist in Bejing at the end of 2009 and Liu Jianchao completed the project in 2010."

Also, a number of the portraits and bottle paintings appear to have been taken from the book Chinese Inside Painting of the Modern Age which was published in 2005.  So if the date on the bottles reads 1985, it is either poorly written or a false date.

Charll

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Charll,

    Some really beautiful Modern IPSBs.
Congratulations,
Joey