Description
Nephrite; with a small mouth and very well hollowed, supported on a recessed base, the greyish-black body encircled around the centre with a white band.
Blackjade is rare and often found with white inclusions. Much of this material was used to create the magnificent black and white carved snuff bottles of Suzhou, but in the case of this bottle, the white band suggested the classic theme of ‘jade belt around the middle’. Such a belt could only be worn by high officials and only they would understand the symbolism of this bottle. The pattern, with lighter swirling grey tones around the base also suggests the fast-flowing waters of a river, with the bank marked by the white band. The recognition of patterns within the natural markings of a stone grew from the tradition of Dali stones, which were Cut so as to reveal such patterns, and often embellished with inscriptions so that they resembled actual paintings
The shape of this bottle re-enforces its impact, with the unusually broad shoulders and wide flattened body.
