Flattened Snuff Bottle with Li Bai's “Departing Baidi City Early,” Incised Landscape, Calligraphy and Seal
Name/Title
Flattened Snuff Bottle with Li Bai's “Departing Baidi City Early,” Incised Landscape, Calligraphy and SealEntry/Object ID
SB3428Description
Chinese flattened snuff bottle of thin rectangular flask form with gently bowed faces and rounded sides. The bottle is fashioned from a smooth cream-colored organic or organic-appearing material, and decorated on both principal faces with finely incised and darkened designs enclosed within ruled borders. One face depicts an expansive river landscape with distant mountain ranges, a solitary sailboat, rocky banks, varied trees and a dwelling nestled beneath a steep rock formation, the engraver employing fine linear and stippled passages to create depth and texture. The reverse bears an extensive multi-column Chinese calligraphic inscription accompanied by a narrower inscription or signature line and a small red square seal. The bottle has a short waisted neck and fitted stopper with tapered body and rounded finial. The four large columns are written vertically, read from right to left. They reproduce the complete text of the famous Tang-dynasty poem 《早發白帝城》 (Zǎo fā Báidì Chéng, “Departing Baidi City Early”) by Li Bai (李白). A fairly literal translation is: At dawn I leave White Emperor City amid the colored clouds; A thousand li to Jiangling, returned in a single day. From both banks the cries of monkeys sound without ceasing; My light boat has already passed ten thousand layered mountains. The poem is securely attributed to Li Bai (701–762). It is traditionally associated with his rapid downstream journey from Baidi City toward Jiangling after receiving news of his pardon in 759.Category
Chinese snuff bottle
Made/Created
Artist
Maker presently unidentifiedTime Period
20th CenturyEthnography
Cultural Region
Continent
AsiaCulture/Tribe
Chinese