MASTER OF THE ROCKS SCHOOL, 1740-1840

The Master of the Rocks School seems to have specialized in carvings from this distinctive material. The School's main output was bottles carved with landscape designs, but many other subjects are recorded, including a few with chi dragon designs, which may have been partly produced for the Court. The quality of carving and the use of material of the present bottle are typical of this School.

A comparable example from the Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part V, was sold at Christie’s New York, 13 September 2017, lot 217, and another from the Blanche B. Exstein Collection was sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2002, lot 158. For other examples of snuff bottles from the Master of the Rocks School, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, the Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 332-69, nos. 128-41. The bottle, no. 128, pp. 322-23, exhibits a very similar material and style to the present bottle.