AN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS ‘HUANG CHENGYAN’ SNUFF BOTTLE

The rounded rectangular body supported on an oval splayed foot with a recessed base and rising to a sloped shoulder surmounted by a gently flared neck. The interior skillfully painted, depicting Huang Chengyan on a donkey approaching a bridge over a river in a snowy landscape, his attendant walking behind him.

The reverse depicting an equestrian huntsman beneath a cliff face, turning after having put an arrow through a wild goose. Inscriptions: To the bottle, inscribed on the front side with the first two lines of poetry from Chapter 37 of the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 紛紛鱗甲飛, 傾刻遍宇宙. 騎驢過小橋, 獨嘆梅花瘦. 己亥年作桂香谷, ‘Falling thick and fast, like fish-scales flying, in an instant, they cover all the earth and sky.

Riding a donkey, I cross the little bridge, Alone I sigh—how thin the plum blossoms sigh.’ Inscribed on the back side, 奉子峰二兄法正, ‘Respectfully presented to elder brother Zifeng for his correction.’ Signed on the front side ‘Made by Gui Xianggu in the year Jihai’(equivalent to 1899). The episode is also calculated to reinforce our picture of Liu Bei as a leader with a unique ability to recognize brilliant advisors and listen to what they have to teach him, an ability that will eventually compensate for his relatively weak position in that dark era of impending all-out war.

When he tried, Gui was one of the more accomplished calligraphers among the large group of commercial painters who followed Zhou Leyuan into the field. Gui was also completely uninhibited about its use.