Lot 193

[PRIVATE ENGLISH COLLECTION] CHINESE INSIDE-PAINTED 'CRANE AND PINE' GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE

FAMILY OF MA SHAOXUAN (1867–1939), DATED 1900

Fine Asian Works of Art

Auction: 06 November 2026 from 10:00 GMT

Estimate: £600 - £800

Description

馬少宣家族 1900年（庚子）玻璃內畫松鶴題詩鼻煙壺

of compressed form, painted on one side with a crane underneath a pine tree, reverse inscribed with a thirty-two-character poem by Sikong Tu, dated to Geng Zi year, corresponding to 1900AD, signature and a seal of the artist, with a red stopper

Dimensions

6.4cm high without stopper

Provenance

Private English collection, London; inherited from the artist Lottie Davis, by repute gifted to her by the Office of the Chargé d’Affaires in Beijing in the mid-20th century.

英格蘭私人收藏，倫敦；繼承自藝術家洛蒂・戴維斯（Lottie Davis），據傳其於20世紀中葉由北京大使館贈予。

Footnote

Ma Shaoxuan was a prominent Beijing-school inside-painted snuff bottle artist who appears to have operated a family workshop, with relatives occasionally producing bottles under his name. The workshop produced a considerable number of miniature snuff bottles, often featuring relatively simple decorative subjects, suggesting that some may have been executed by family members. While Ma Shaoxuan was responsible for the designs, individual family members may have specialised in particular subjects or contributed paintings and calligraphy in his style.

Highly comparable snuff bottle by Ma Shaoxuan, is in the collection of the Shanghai Museum.