When collecting snuff bottles, you must first learn the basic knowledge, just like some introductory knowledge. What is the introductory knowledge of snuff bottles? So let’s take a look at what I carefully recommend for everyone. Introductory knowledge on collecting inside-painted snuff bottles, I hope it will be helpful to you.
Introduction to the collection of inside-painted snuff bottles
The paintings on inside-painted snuff bottles have an exact date, and the earliest is the Neizi Year of Jiaqing (1816).
The four famous painters of Beijing style interior painting are Zhou Leyuan, Ma Shaoxuan, Ye Zhongsan and Ding Erzhong.
The founder of Lu School interior painting is Bi Rongjiu. His works mostly focus on folk themes, and the painting techniques are mostly flat and monotonous.
Wang Xisan, the founder of Hebei style interior painting, invented the "metal hook brush" and pioneered the use of oil painting and oil painting in the art of interior painting. He was a master who applied Western painting methods to the interior painting of snuff bottles. He was the founder of the sect in modern times. "Yi Hu Zhai" is his hall name. He has a profound foundation in traditional painting and is excellent in both calligraphy and painting. He is the first honorary member of the International Snuff Bottle Society.
Zhou Leyuan’s internally painted snuff bottles are the least handed down from generation to generation, and their hall name is Ou Xiang Zhai, Thirty-six Shutang. Most of the works were painted between 1882 and 1893. His painting style is ancient, and his poetry, calligraphy and painting are all exquisite. Most of his works are landscapes, with occasional figures, flowers and birds, and Cordyceps are also exquisite. There are paintings in the poems, poems in the paintings, and artistic conception. The artistic accomplishment of interior painting is extremely high, and the number of works is very rare. "Bogu Tu" and "Wind and Rain Return to Pill" are Zhou Leyuan's favorite themes. He is a master of interior painting art. There are many imitations in later generations, but most of them have their own form but not their spirit.
Ma Shaoxuan’s portrait technique in interior painting is unique and unparalleled. His landscapes, flowers, figures, and calligraphy are all exquisite. His style is simple and his skills are profound. He is an outstanding master of interior painting. His original name is Guang Jia. Born in Beijing in 1867 and died in 1939, most of Ma Shaoxuan's works are paintings on one side and calligraphy on the other. Especially his calligraphy is extremely skillful, with rigorous structure and vigorous brushwork. It has the style of Ouyang Xun. Both the stele and the calligraphy are outstanding. Group, its portrait painting techniques are also famous in the capital, and the portraits painted are all vivid and expressive, just like photos. Known as a "miracle", he has extraordinary craftsmanship. Every one of his works strives for perfection, and his painting skills are strive for excellence. No one can match him. Even those with high positions are proud to have Ma's internal painting portraits.
Ye Zhongsan has a different style of painting from others. He likes to use bright red and bright green, and mostly paints folklore themes, which is unique. The combination of bright red and big green has the finishing touch and makes the picture full of vitality. The themes of his late works are much richer than those of his early ones, including landscapes, figures, flowers, birds, and grass and insects. Some of his later works are rougher than those of his early ones. The themes of some works were painted by himself, and the coloring and scenery additions were completed by his sons and brothers Ye Xiaofeng. As a result, he has a unique technique when painting grass and leaves, that is, using a flat pen dipped in extremely thick ink or green to squeeze out the shape of leaves on the wall of the pot. This is also an important feature for identifying Ye Zhongsan's inner paintings, and He has many works and is a prolific painter.
Ding Erzhong, whose ancestors lived in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and later moved to Beijing, is a painter with excellent literary talents. His landscape painting skills are profound and he can imitate the landscapes of various schools. Ding Erzhong's calligraphy is particularly exquisite, and he has a genuine seal script. Excellent in everything, Ding Erzhong also had high achievements in bamboo carving. His original name was Ding Yugeng, Ding Yugeng, and his hall name was "Plum Blossom Villa". Ding Erzhong's calligraphy is unrestrained, bold, smooth and free, and his patterns are obviously different from Ma Shaoxuan's simple and rigorous. Ding Erzhong is good at landscapes, and he can accommodate hundreds of rivers in a square inch. Among them, trees, figures, pavilions, and pavilions are all the finishing touches. He researched traditional landscape paintings Extremely profound, he often brings ancient landscapes into his works.
The origin and development of snuff bottles
The custom of snuff smoking originated from the Indians, the inventors of tobacco. Around the 14th century, the Italians selected fine tobacco leaves, mixed them with mint, borneol and other medicinal materials, ground them into powder, sealed them in cellars for aging, and produced commercial snus over several years.
The Han people began to take snuff in the Ming Dynasty. In the late Ming Dynasty, very few snuffs were imported, and only one place in Guangdong was smoked. Kangxi opened the sea ban, and Western missionaries brought a large amount of snuff and glass bottles containing snuff. Smoking snuff gradually became a fashion. The prime ministers of Western countries sent snuff and glass snuff bottles as tribute, first to Portugal, then to the United Kingdom, France and other countries. Emperor Qianlong often rewarded princes and ministers with snuff. This was followed up and down, and snuff gradually became a social fashion.
Snuff bottles are specially used to hold snuff. In order to be easy to carry, they are generally the size of a pack of cigarettes.
Among the surviving relics, there are more than 20 snuff bottles with bronze sculptures of Yunlong made by Cheng Rongzhang of Shunzhi, which are the earliest snuff bottles. Kangxi had a special liking for Western handicrafts. He recruited a group of Westerners who were proficient in glass snuff bottle making and enamel painting to make snuff bottles in the Forbidden City. The art of snuff bottles reached its peak during the Qianlong reign. The collection of snuff bottles became popular, and the use of snuff bottles gradually became secondary. All the techniques of traditional Chinese art: painting, calligraphy, porcelain firing, glazing, jade grinding, rhinoceros smelting, tooth carving, bamboo carving, lacquer picking, nesting, embroidery, gold and silver inlay, mother-of-pearl inlay, yellow paste, etc. are all used On the snuff bottle. During the Qianlong period, snuff bottles became a tool used to show one's status in rich fights.
How to identify tourmaline snuff bottles
Tourmaline snuff bottles mainly look at the texture. Tourmaline color bands vary more, and there are vertical lines on the crystal surface. For good products, the internal color of the bottle body is uniform, and there are few ?Cotton willow? shaped body, high transparency. Some tourmaline snuff bottles contain clouds, are not bright and uniform in color, and are considered inferior products. The Queen Mother of the West in the Qing Dynasty was particularly fond of tourmaline, which became widely popular and the price increased day by day. After the death of the Queen Mother of the West, Tourma's status plummeted.
Tourmaline is a precious material, and makers are often reluctant to waste it, so they often use follow-the-shape methods to carve it. Tourmaline snuff bottles are generally small in size, and most of them are ingenious.
Tourmaline snuff bottles are preferred if they are clean in texture, bright and pure in color, and regular in shape. In the autumn of 1999, China Guardian auctioned a mid-Qing Dynasty green tourmaline snuff bottle with Kui dragon pattern, 5.6 cm high, straight mouth and bulging belly, transparent texture, engraved Ruyi cloud pattern on the mouth edge, Kui dragon pattern in relief on the belly wall, and pink tourmaline cover. The device was priced at 100,000 yuan at the time. Of course, not all tourmaline snuff bottles are so valuable. If the tourmaline itself has cracks, is incorrect in color, is too light, or is not finely carved, its value will be greatly reduced.