AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS ‘EIGHT HORSES OF MU WANG’ SNUFF BOTTLE
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1901
Dexterously painted with a continuous composition of the eight noble steeds of Mu Wang frolicking and grazing beneath a large willow in a grassy landscape. The rounded rectangular body supported on a splayed oblong foot with recessed convex base and rising to a gently flared neck.
Inscriptions: To one side, upper left, ‘In the spring of the xinchou year [1901], by Ye Zhongsan’. Provenance: From an English private collection, acquired between the 1950s and 1960s. The theme of the eight horses (bajun) originates from the legend of the eight spirited steeds belonging to Mu Wang (King Mu) of the Zhou dynasty (r. 1001-946 BC). Over the years, this motif has come to symbolize men of talent because de character meaning ‘steed’ (jun) is homophonous with the character meaning ‘talented man’.
Ye Zhongsan first painted horses and donkeys in 1895, and the earliest depiction of the Eight Horses dates to 1896, within a double crystal bottle. Notably, however, Ye did not merely reproduce a fixed design.
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)
- glass
- Dimensions or weight (listing wording)
- Height 7 cm
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
- 199791344
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.