Message #45410

[OIB]

Dear Geovanni and Samson,

I read with much interests the discussions between both of you from ' last year ' to this ' new year ' !!
As collectors, we are always caught between the words " old " ( as to antique ) and " beautiful ".
Of course, old pieces are not necessarily beautiful to look at or have excellent craftsmanship. Likewise, there are new works of art that are excellent and beautiful.

I always reminded myself of these three Chinese words when it comes to any object of art :

' 真 ‘ - meaning authentic, real ;
' 精 ' - meaning par excellent, exquisite, outstanding craftsmanship ;
' 美 ’ - meaning beautiful, elegant .

Like Giovanni, when I hold a piece of snuff bottle in my palm, I never exclaimed, " what an old piece ! "
or " what an antique  ! ". It is always, " what a beauty ! " ( in many cases, unfortunately or fortunately,
my wife was not with me !! ). And we know how difficult it is to ascertain if a snuff bottle is an antique
( anyway, early 20th century pieces, bottles of the Republic era, are now antique in 2017, isn't it ? ).

We are always very happy if we come to own a bottle which is old, as to antique, and it is at the same time
very pleasing to our own eyes - especially it is within our budget ! Such a piece is usually taken home secretly
just in case our better half should see it ( and there are times I surface it together with other pieces my wife
already knew ... )

May we continue our journey of enjoying the snuff bottles in 2017 !

Regards,
Inn Bok