Beschreibung:

A VERY RARE CARVED AND INSCRIBED AMBER SNUFF BOTTLEWang Baishi (1830-1850)
Of flattened baluster shape rising from a flat base, the orange-honey tone bottle finely carved on both sides with a calligraphic inscription by Wang Baishi, seals of Yinfeng (To sing in the breeze), Baishi (used twice), Shanren (hermit, used twice), and Nongyue (To admire the moon), stopper inlaid with a pearl and ivory spoon. 5.5cm (2 1/4in) high. (2).Footnotes十九世紀 王白石（1830-1850） 琥珀刻詩文鼻煙壺
The item within this lot containing ivory has been registered in accordance with the Ivory Act (Section 10). Ref.5DFNKQRH
該批次中含有象牙的物品已根據《象牙法案》（章節10）註冊，Ref.5DFNKQRH
Provenance: Tristan Knight collection
Hugh M. Moss Ltd., Hong Kong, February 1971
An English private collection, and thence by descent
Exhibited: The Oriental Ceramic Society, The Chinese Scholar's Desk, 17th to 18th Century: An Exhibition Held in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1979
Published: H.Moss, V.Graham and K.B.Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol.7 (part 1), Hong Kong, 2009, no.1569, p.259, A2.
來源：Tristan爵士舊藏
香港古董商Hugh Moss，1971年2月
英國私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今
展覽：東方陶瓷學會，《The Chinese Scholar's Desk, 17th to 18th Century: An Exhibition Held in the Ashmolean Museum》，牛津，1979年
著錄：H.Moss, V.Graham and K.B.Tsang，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，第7冊（第1部分），香港，2009年，編號1569，第259頁，A2
The inscription on one side reads:
空憐北闕歸東野
偶作草堂
Which can be translated:
'It is unnecessary to pity a gentleman who leaves the Imperial palace and goes back to the countryside.
The occasionally built thatched cottage.
The other side with:
卻怪西瀼客拾遺
偶草并芝蘭
It is only needed to blame the west of the Xiang River to treat the Shiyi as a guest.
Messy grass and fragrant grass.
Shiyi was a the title of an advisory official in the Tang dynasty. This probably refers to the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (712-770), who used to undertake this position and lived in the west of the Xiang river for years. Du Fu was sometimes called Du Shiyi by later generations.
Baishi is best known as the carver of a small series of hornbill snuff bottles of masterly quality, but he also made at least three amber snuff bottles, all with inscriptions and seals only, without the pictorial content we have come to expect of his hornbill carvings.
H.Moss, V.Graham and K.B.Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol.7 (part 1), Hong Kong, 2009, p.259, list three known amber snuff bottles by Wang Baishi: the first, noted as A1, no.1570 in the Bloch collection, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 23 November 2010, lot 12; the second, noted as A2, is the present snuff bottle; and the third, noted as A3, with an inscription from an archaic bronze.