A CHESTNUT-BROWN AND WHITE JADE 'PAIRS OF FISH' SNUFF BOTTLE 18th/19th century The white and chestnut-brown stone naturalistically carved as four intertwined fish of contrasting colours, with finely detailed eyes, fins and gills, the mouths converging to form the bottle's base and the tails rising to form the neck, stopper. 6cm (2 3/8in) high. (2). Footnotes: The item within this lot containing ivory has been registered in accordance with the Ivory Act (Section 10). Ref.ZPVCWPS9 該批次中含有象牙的物品已根據《象牙法案》（章節10）註冊Ref.ZPVCWPS9 十八/十九世紀 糖白玉雕雙魚紋鼻烟壺 Provenance: Hugh Moss Ltd., London Trudy and John Cohen, collection no.B58, acquired from the above circa 1974 Published and Illustrated: H.Moss, 'Criteria for Judging Snuff Bottles', in The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Journal, December 1977, p.18, fig.16 來源：倫敦古董商Hugh Moss Ltd. Trudy及John Cohen伉儷，藏品編號B58，約1974年從上處獲得 著錄：H.Moss，《Criteria for Judging Snuff Bottles》，《The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Journal》，1977年12月，第18頁，插圖16 Homophonous with yu (餘), meaning abundance, the fish (yu 魚) has long symbolised plenitude of wealth, children, or good health, and its link to Zhuangzi's reflection on the joy of fish adds an element of happiness. A pair of fish (shuangyu 雙魚) represents marital harmony, while their fertility evokes the auspicious wish for numerous offspring. The depiction of two fish thus encompasses rich symbolic meaning, and therefore enjoyed popularity as an auspicious motif, including in snuff bottles. H.Moss, V.Graham, and K.B.Tsang, in The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection, New York, 1993, p.254, describe a group of chalcedony and jade bottles which featuring intertwined fish defined by the stone's natural markings, with the neck seamlessly incorporated in the design. They suggest that these bottles may originate from workshops specialised in this design. An example in chalcedony is illustrated in ibid., no.158. The present lot appears to belong to this category. Two pairs of fish are masterfully intertwined, with the carving cleverly following the stone's natural coloration to render two fish white and the other two green. The eyes, fins and scales are rendered with naturalistic precision, making it visually striking and delightfully tactile. Compare with a related 'conjoined fish' jade snuff bottle, 1760-1880, illustrated by R.Hall, The Snowy Peaks Collection: A Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles Formed by Pamela R. Lessing Friedman, London, 2005, no.79. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * Y Ф * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. Y Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the UK, see clause 13. Ф This lot contains or is made of ivory and cannot be imported into the USA or any country within the EU. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing