Lot 204

[PRIVATE ENGLISH COLLECTION] CHINESE INSIDE-PAINTED 'CAT AND LANDSCAPE' GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE

SIGNED ZHU ZHANYUAN (QING DYNASTY), DATED 1906

Fine Asian Works of Art

Auction: 06 November 2026 from 10:00 GMT

Estimate: £300 - £500

Description

朱占元 1906年（丙午）玻璃內畫耄耋與山水高士圖鼻煙壺

of compressed form, one side painted with a shanshui landscape with a small figure on sampan, reverse painted with a cat on rockwork, its looks up to a butterfly, dated to the Bing Wu year, corresponding to 1906AD, signature and a seal of the artist, with a green stopper

Dimensions

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

One of the most unusual cases among the Beijing School of inside-painted artists associated with Zhou Leyuan is that of Zhu Zhanyuan. Only eleven bottles by him are currently recorded. Although he devoted his entire career to emulating Zhou Leyuan’s style and much of his subject matter, he was a highly competent artist who produced several outstanding paintings. His career appears to have spanned the period from 1896 to 1906, with the majority of his paintings dating to the earlier years.

Compare to a rare double square-section bottle by Zhu Zhanyuan, dated 1897, sold at Christie's New York, 14 Sep 2016, lot 414. Also see a related ‘cat and butterfly’ snuff bottle, in the style of Zhou Leyuan, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 10 February 2021, lot 3091.