Vintage Pair of Inside Painted Snuff Bottles With Butterflies and Praying Mantis

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The last time I looked at a long horizontal scroll painting of flowers and insects from the Southern Song Dynasty … Read more The last time I looked at a long horizontal scroll painting of flowers and insects from the Southern Song Dynasty 12 to 13 century was in a Chinese art history class at the University of Chicago. That was more than 30 years ago and I have to do some research to find the artist and the correct date. No doubt that painting has been copied many times over, and by the Ming Dynasty (CE 1368 to 1644) albums on birds and flowers and other forms of nature were available for students learning traditional paintings.

The paintings painted on the insides of these two bottles reflect some resemblance to the established traditions of insect paintings. The compositions on both bottles however, are free form. The use of colors are true to nature. In one bottle, the interplay of praying mantis juxtaposed against the flowering foliage with buzzing butterflies is quite lively. In the second bottle, the green praying mantis appears to be flying while attacking a small butterfly creates a certain drama in contrast to the static painting on the other side of a beetle flying above a carrot.

Both glass bottles have flattened elongated globular forms with flat tops and oval feet. They are fitted with Mongolian style silver stoppers studded with green and red stones.

Dating: post 1970's

Dimensions: the bottles are not identical in shape, but the dimensions are quite similar - 1.5 inches wide, 0.5 inches deep and 3.5 inches high

Condition: good for both bottles See less