China. Well hollowed, the flattened ovoid body resting on an oval foot and rising to a cylindrical neck. The transparent quartz stone suffused with hair-like black tourmaline inclusions.

Provenance: The VWS Collection, acquired by the previous owner's father (1890-1977) in China during the 1930s and thence by descent within the family. The VWS collection tells the extraordinary story of a family fleeing the Tsarist Empire in Russia. Their journey began in 1903 as the Chinese Eastern Railway, the eastern branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway, was completed. Fleeing, like others, a climate of political persecution and anti-Semitism, the family settled in Harbin, the most northerly city in China and started to develop its businesses from 1906 onwards. Like many others, they were attracted to this cosmopolitan place, then a major economic and cultural center in Manchuria, because of its large Jewish community. In Harbin, the father, a cultured, open-minded and multilingual man, felt at home and his early successes in business earned him respect. By 1932, he and his family were forced to flee again, following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and found a new home in Shanghai. From there, his businesses took him to Hong Kong, North America, and other Asian countries, where the family would remain for many years. They began collecting art in China during the 1930s and these artworks have remained with the family heirs ever since.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, natural fissures and inclusions, minuscule nibbles to the mouth, few small chips to the foot.

Stopper: Rose quartz
Weight: 80.1 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 74 mm. Diameter neck 18 mm and mouth 7 mm

The hollowing of the present bottle has left a substantial thickness of wall, so as not to lose the beauty of the material, which after all lies in the inclusions in the walls of the bottle. This is one typical way of hollowing crystal bottles, where a greater depth of wall created a brilliance of material that was valued and, in this case, allowed for more internal markings.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 28 November 2011, lot 17
Price: HKD 35,000 or approx. EUR 5,900 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A 'hair-crystal' snuff bottle, 1740-1880
Expert remark: Compare the closely related material, form, and manner of carving. Note the size (6.2 cm).