China. Well hollowed, the flattened ovoid body resting on an oval foot and rising to a cylindrical neck. The semi-transparent quartz stone suffused on one side with hair-like black tourmaline needles, and carved to the other side with a gnarled pine tree and towering mountains.

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: Very good condition with minor wear, few tiny nicks, light scratches, and minor nibbling to the mouth. The stone with natural flaws and fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.

Stopper: Rose quartz
Weight: 108.5 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 75 mm. Diameter neck 23 mm and mouth 8 mm

With the random distribution of differently colored needles of varying thickness and length, 'hair crystal' bottles provide an infinite variety of exciting patterns. The needle-like crystalline inclusions can be black (tourmaline), green (actinolite), and coppery red or silvery gold (rutile).

The inclusions in this remarkable example are tourmaline. The 'hairs' here are concentrated on one side of the bottle, while the other has been carved by the lapidary with a simple landscape of pine and mountains. The scene is enhanced by the small flaws in the stone which reflect light in brilliant, iridescent bursts.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's New York, 22 March 2007, lot 13
Price: USD 16,800 or approx. EUR 23,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A finely carved “hair crystal” snuff bottle, 1750-1880
Expert remark: Compare the closely related material, form, and manner of carving, one side of the bottle also carved with a pine tree. Note the slightly different distribution of tourmaline needles as well as the mask-and-ring handles. Note the size (5.8 cm).