Qing Dynasty, Crystal Hand-painted Snuff Box, Ye Zhongsan

Visible in Paris. Free local pickup in the capital and its suburbs. Delivery within France €25. Contact me for shipping to Europe and the rest of the world.
Snuff bottle with interior painted decoration, late Qing Dynasty (1904), by Ye Zhongsan (1875-1945). Two depictions of stories from "Strange Tales from the Leisure Studio."
Clear rock crystal with inclusions resembling Venus hair and other mineral impurities. The stopper is made of white jade with apple-green inclusions and white Peking glass. The original spoon is still present. Antique, handmade wooden base.

The piece is decorated on the front with three women discovering a man perched in a tree. A seal impression is visible to the left of the inscription: 印 (yin), "seal." It bears a title in the scribal style (lishu), followed by a signature in running script (xingshu).

巧孃[娘]
甲辰杏月
叶仲三作。

"The Clever One"
Made by Ye Zhongsan in the second month of the Jiachen year (1904).

The coin is decorated on the reverse with a scene of figures, where
a horsewoman in a red cape is accompanied by a lancer, both dressed in the
fashion of the steppe, with a Chinese attendant. The title, in scribal script, is:

西湖主

“The Princess of the Lake”

Dimensions of the snuffbox alone: ​​8 cm (H) x 4.5 cm (W)
Dimensions of the base: 2 cm (H) x 4.8 cm

Condition report: excellent condition, minor paint losses, natural inclusions, and inherent flaws due to the material.

Ye Zhongsan (1875-1945) was from Beijing. He is one of the most famous snuffbox painters of the Capital School, along with Zhou Leyuan and Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939). Ye Zhongsan was active during the last two decades of the Qing dynasty and the beginning of the Republic, drawing inspiration from painting manuals and illustrated books of the time. His characters also incorporated illustrations from classic novels and tales: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (Sanguoyanyi), "Dream in a Noble House" (Hongloumeng), and "Strange Tales from the Playhouse Studio" (Liaozhai zhiyi).

These paintings refer to two of the "Strange Tales from the Playhouse Studio," a collection of supernatural stories of folk origin, written in classical Arabic, by Pu Songling (1640-1715), and printed only in 1766.
The obverse image illustrates tale No. 75, 33rd of Chapter II: Qiaoniang 巧娘 "The Clever One."
The reverse image illustrates tale No. 186, 19th of Chapter V: Xihu zhu 西湖主 "The Princess of the Lake."