A MA SHAOXUAN INSIDE-PAINTED GLASS PORTRAIT SNUFF BOTTLE OF EMPEROR HONGXIAN, YUAN SHIKAI

Glass. China, 1905-1916

Publications: This bottle is illustrated in Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939), Inside-Painted Snuff Bottle Artist, A Biography and Study by Ma Zengshan, Translated and annotated by Ka Bo Tsang, The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Baltimore 1997, page 65, fig. 55, and in Emily Byrne Curtis, Reflected Glory in a Bottle, New York, 1980, Chapter 'Leaders of the Republic', pp. 44-49, fig. 67, and identified as that of Yuan Shikai (Curtis also illustrates one other portrait bottle of Yuan Shikai in the same publication, figs. 65 and 66).

Yuan Shikai 袁世凱 (16 September 1859- 6 June 1916) was a Chinese emperor, general, statesman and warlord, famous for his influence during the late Qing dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor, his autocratic rule as the first formal President of the Republic of China, and his short-lived attempt to restore monarchy in China, with himself as the Hongxian Emperor. Yuan introduced far-ranging modernizations in law and social areas and organized one of China's first modern armies. But the loyalty Yuan had fostered in the armed forces dissolved after his death, undermining the authority of the central government. Yuan financed his regime through large foreign loans and is criticized for weakening Chinese morale and international prestige, and for allowing the Japanese to gain broad concessions over China. Jonathan Spence, however, notes in his influential survey that Yuan was "ambitious, both for his country and for himself", and that "even as he subverted the constitution, paradoxically he sought to build on late-Qing attempts at reforms and to develop institutions that would bring strong and stable government to China." To gain foreign confidence and end the hated system of extraterritoriality, Yuan strengthened the court system and invited foreign advisers to reform the penal system.

Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) was one of the most technically accomplished artists of the Beijing school of snuff-bottle painting, which was founded by Zhou Leyuan and included other leading artists, such as Ding Erzhong, Ye Zhongsan and Ziyizi. Ma's famous monochromatic portrait bottles of leading Qing officials and personalities were prized by the influential minority of his day and continue to be among the most coveted of all inside-painted bottles. Executed only in black ink, using vermilion solely for seals, each portrait is a technically impeccable, photographic likeness of the sitter. Ma's renown led to his being commissioned in 1911 to paint two portraits of the young Xuantong emperor. Although the Qing dynasty was on the verge of collapse and political turmoil marked most of this period, Ma's contacts with high officials enhanced his reputation. He also painted portraits of a number of high officials from the late Qing dynasty and the ensuing republic, including Yuan Shikai.

The precision of Ma's work in the present portrait bottle represent his finest work from the early 1900s onwards. His genius was in his ability to capture in his miniature portraits a perfect reproduction of the photographs from which he worked, but because they were painted by hand, bringing to them an added vitality missing from the more mechanical photographic process. This bottle is one of a small number of Ma's portraits that have no inscriptions whatsoever. This seems strange, as the bottles look incomplete and one cannot imagine that either Ma or his patrons would have ordered them that way when the standard for which Ma was famous was a painting on one side and a long inscription on the other. It is of course possible that this bottle was ordered without inscriptions, but it may also have remained unfinished. Dealing with the movers and shakers of a dynasty in turmoil during a period of intense political uncertainty must have been difficult at times. Such important and powerful people cannot have been easy to work with, and if their attention was distracted by affairs of state from what was probably a minor indulgence for them, one might expect a few unfinished commissions. Perhaps whoever ordered this bottle provided the photograph but no suitable text for Ma to inscribe on the bottle, and hence it may have been never delivered.

As a rule, Ma tended not to use white paint in his portraits, preferring to leave the blank background to act as white, but he occasionally highlighted certain areas with white (see Moss, Graham and Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 4, Inside Painted, lots 606 and 610). On the present bottle, white wash enhances collar, medal and jacket. For a similar treatment of the uniform, see a bottle portrait of General Jiang Yanxing in Moss, Graham and Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 4, Inside Painted, lot 610.

Shape: Flattened rectangular shape with rounded shoulders
Hollowing: Standard
Mouth, neck and lip: Cylindric neck with slanted lip and small mouth
Base: Oval base with raised and slanted foot rim
Stopper: Blue glass stopper
Height of the bottle with stopper: 6.6 cm.
Width of the mouth: 6 mm.
Width of the neck: 16 mm.
Condition: Good, inner foot with two minuscule hairlines and tiny chip
Provenance: The Dr. and Mrs. Louis E. Wolferz Collection, Sotheby's New York, October 3rd, 1980, lot 121. The Collection of Ann Neviaser, Verona, Wisconsin, USA. (the stopper bearing old collector number '60')

Literature comparison: Snuff Bottles from the Mary & George Bloch Collection: Part IX. Sotheby's, Hong Kong, November 24th, 2014, lot 92. (for another portrait bottle by Ma Shaoxuan, also lacking any inscription) The Meriem Collection Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part II. Christies, New York, March 19th, 2008, lot 253. (for a portrait of an associate of Yuan Shikai, Zhang Qian)

馬少宣内畫洪憲帝袁世凱玻璃鼻烟壺
品相良好，足部内沿有兩個細微裂縫
美國威斯康星州維若那市安∙内維捨爾Ann Neviaser收藏（壺蓋上有老收藏編號"60"），來自苏富比《Louis E. Wolferz博士夫妇收藏专场》，紐約，1980年10月3，121号拍品。