Lot 196

[PRIVATE ENGLISH COLLECTION] TWO CHINESE INSIDE-PAINTED 'STRANGE TALES OF LIAOZHAI' GLASS SNUFF BOTTLES

YE ZHONGSAN (1875-1945), DATED 1926 & 1921

Fine Asian Works of Art

Auction: 06 November 2026 from 10:00 GMT

Estimate: £800 - £1,200

Description

葉仲三 1926年（丙寅）及 1921年（辛酉）玻璃內畫聊齋誌異圖鼻煙壺（共兩件）

one of compressed globular form, painted on one side with a scene from ‘Fen Zhou Hu’ depicting a lady boarding a skiff, the reverse depicting a lady playing a qin titled ‘Huan Niang’, dated to Bing Yin year, corresponding to 1926AD, with a pale yellow stopper and wooden stand; together with a compressed ovoid bottle, painted on one side with a scene from ‘Feng Sanniang’, the reverse ‘Chang'E’, dated to Xin You year, corresponding to 1921AD, both with signature and seal of the artist, with a green stopper (2)

Dimensions

largest: 6.7cm 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

Ye Zhongsan (1875–1945) was a renowned Beijing master of inside-painted snuff bottles and one of the leading artists of the late Qing dynasty to Republic Period. He was known for his broad range of subjects, including figures, landscapes, flowers and birds, insects, and scenes from classical literature. His works are distinguished by their strong, vivid colours, lively compositions and refined brushwork, earning him a reputation for being both elegant and accessible. Alongside Zhou Leyuan and Ma Shaoxuan, he is regarded as one of the foremost masters of the Beijing school of inside-painted snuff bottles. The art of Ye Zhongsan was subsequently continued by his sons, who helped transmit and develop the Ye school of inside painting and influenced later generations of artists.

The scenes on these snuff bottles are taken from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, commonly known as Liaozhai Zhiyi. It is a celebrated collection of supernatural and fantastic stories written by Pu Songling (1640–1715) during the Qing dynasty. Compiled from the late 17th century onwards, the work contains nearly 500 tales featuring fox spirits, ghosts, immortals, demons and other supernatural beings.

See one inside-painted snuff bottle with scenes of ‘Huan Niang' and ‘Fen Zhou Hu’, signed Ye Zhongsan, dated 1922, sold at Christie's New York, 15 Mar 2017, part lot 331. Also see a carved and inside-painted rock crystal snuff bottle by Ye Zhongsan, dated 1895, with the ‘Huan Niang’ scene, sold at Bonhams New York, 14 March 2016, lot 6069.