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Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Chinese: Snuff Bottles: Pre 1900: Item # 1420305

Please refer to our stock # 251 when inquiring.

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Forestangel Asian Antiques
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MIAMI
FL
305-386-1474
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This is a very fine, flattened, rounded square form Snuff Bottle with a straight round neck, rounded sloping shoulders, resting on a raised oval footing. Made of Black Jade. The bottle is well hollowed, decorated with slight high relief carving of a Peony flower (a symbol of beauty in China) and branch on each side. It has a very smooth and lustrous surface. It comes with a light brown and black agate stopper with spoon. The black color in jade is described by most sources as ‘very deep green, but, because of the high iron content, it appears black’…as these pieces of jade are very black, you tend not to see through most of the stone” This bottle appears to be very black through the naked eye. When you place a light source on its mouth, the reflection of the light does not pass through, as it is supposed to. However, when you shine a light on the sides of the bottle, its color then appears very deep dark green, with some charcoal gray wide patches and a small area of minute black intrusions. In this case, the jade appears in layers of dark green and dark-gray, almost black. The craftsman very cleverly used the darker gray/black tone of the stone’s skin to carve the Peony flowers and branches, and left the dark green layer as ground. A similar bottle was sold at auction at Skinner on 19 September 2015 for $3,567. Another Black Jade bottle with similar characteristics was sold at Christies on 13 September 2007 for $10,625 . This outstanding bottle is in remarkable preserved condition. Bottle Measurements Height: 2.36 inches (6.0cm) - not including stopper Width: 2.0 inches (5.0cm) Thickness: 1.72 inches (4.3cm) Weight: 4.2 ounces