A FINE ‘CRICKET ESCAPES FROM CAGE’ JASPER SNUFF BOTTLE
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1750-1860
Rather than merely depicting a cricket, the artist presents one that has escaped its cage and now appears to revel in its newfound freedom. The insect's alert stance and almost smug expression lend the composition an unmistakable sense of humor.
Exquisitely carved in every detail—from the finely delineated body and powerful hind legs to the charming gesture of cleaning its antenna—the cricket is among the most animated and lifelike examples of the genre. Well hollowed, the squat body of compressed globular form, carved in high-relief through an upper layer of mottled olive green with a lone katydid crawling atop a gourd-form cricket cage decorated with foliate blossoms, the deep oxblood-colored body left plain to the narrow sides and meticulously incised to the reverse in low relief with a slender bamboo shoot that continues across the foot, cleverly integrating a natural hairline that encircles most of the body.
Diameter neck 20 mm and mouth 7 mm.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Material (listing wording)
- jasper
- Dimensions or weight (listing wording)
- Height including stopper 69 mm
Identification
- Source note
- Auction-house description published on Invaluable. Attribution and measurements are the auction house’s statements about the photographed example; independent type authentication remains research required.
- Listing object ID
- 205758026
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Independent confirmation of type attribution and auction-house statements remains research required.