Qing dynasty inside-painted glass 'Eight Brokens' snuff bottle by Ma Shaoxuan
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
Qing dynasty, dated 1905 (Yi-Si year)
This snuff bottle is a refined example of Qing dynasty inside-painted glass, crafted by the renowned Beijing-school master Ma Shaoxuan (1867–1939). The vessel features a straight mouth, rounded shoulders, and a flattened rectangular body resting on an oval foot.
The interior of the transparent glass body is meticulously decorated with colored paintings. On the obverse, the artist depicts the 'Eight Brokens' (Bapo) theme, showcasing a sophisticated arrangement of fragments such as fan pages, books, charred remnants, and torn paper slips, reflecting the aesthetic of 'Jin Gu Dui'. The reverse side is adorned with elegant regular-script calligraphy featuring a poetic inscription and the artist's seal.
Ma Shaoxuan was celebrated for his signature 'one side poetry, one side painting' style. The bottle stands 6.3 cm tall, embodying the intricate skill of reverse-painting techniques and the late Qing-early Republican era scholarly fascination with antique fragments and literary art forms.
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
- Height
- 6.3 cm
- Material
- glass
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- inside-painted
- Decoration
- Eight Brokens (Bapo) imagery and regular-script calligraphy
Design
- Obverse
- Eight Brokens (Bapo) arrangement of paper and book fragments
- Reverse
- Regular-script poem and artist seal
- Inscription
- Signed Ma Shaoxuan with seal
Identification
- Source note
- Described from a single auction-house listing published on Invaluable (reproduced with Invaluable's permission). Details apply to that one example; other examples of the type may differ, and the listing is supplementary evidence, not authentication.
- Maker named in listing
- Ma Shaoxuan
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.