China, the bottle mid-18^th to early 19^th century, the painting c. 1904-1945. Very well hollowed, the squat body rising from an oval foot to a tall cylindrical neck with a flat lip. Superbly painted to one side with an elderly farmer tipping his hat as he converses with a young boy, and to the other with three boys setting up a picnic, all below a gnarled pine on lush green grounds. The agate with attractive natural inclusions like drops of water rippling in a pond.

Inscriptions: Signed to the top, ‘Ye Zhongsan’. One seal of the artist, ‘yin’.

Provenance: A private collection in Chicago, USA.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and natural imperfections to the agate including fissures with associated tiny losses. Minuscule nicks and microscopic losses to the mouth and foot.

Stopper: Hardstone with metal collar
Weight: 57.6 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 63 mm. Diameter neck 16 mm and mouth 6 mm.

Much of our understanding of Ye Zhongsan (1869-1945) is derived from the historical accounts provided by his sons, Ye Bengqi and Ye Shaofeng. Ye Zhongsan, who had a total of five sons, played a pivotal role in establishing the groundwork for the Ji and Beijing schools of inside painting. Born in 1869 during the latter half of the Qing Dynasty, Ye Zhongsan embarked on his journey into inside painting of snuff bottles at the age of 23. Despite this relatively late start, he quickly ascended to prominence, joining the ranks of esteemed artists such as Ma Shaoxuan, Zhou Leyuan, and Ding Erzhong.

In 1896, Ye Zhongsan initiated his renowned series of inside paintings featuring children, a thematic choice that persisted throughout his artistic career. These depictions, exemplified by the present lot, articulate a longing for male progeny and carry blessings for abundant descendants. The imagery on the reverse side of the bottle reinforces this narrative, portraying an elderly figure with a young boy – a symbolic representation of the succeeding generation and the transmission of wisdom.

From about 1904 onwards, Ye Zhongsan began to take advantage of what we may presume to have been a weakening market for old snuff bottles in the wake of the gradually dying interest in snuff in favor of smoking cigarettes and the political turmoil that attended the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and the collapse of the Qing dynasty, which would follow in 1911. We suddenly see a reasonable number of old agate and crystal bottles where the markings in the material are imaginatively used as the basis for ink-play paintings.

It is quite remarkable that it took until the turn of the century for any inside-painted artists to realize the potential in painting inside such materials that were, after all, readily available and, it would seem, crying out for such treatment. It was Ye Zhongsan’s use from the early years of the present century onwards that defined this particular branch of the art, and it remained his prerogative throughout his career, being adopted only occasionally by other artists, including Zhou Leyuan. This again seems strange, since once the idea was established, we might have expected other artists to respond more enthusiastically to it. But of course such initial enthusiasm may well have been impeded by the increased challenge of integrating one’s personal artwork into an already existing natural environment.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related inside-painted agate snuff bottle by Ye Zhongsan in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, accession number 1939-31-50.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 May 2013, lot 118
Price: HKD 62,500 or approx. EUR 9,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An inside-painted agate snuff bottle, Ye family, second month, 1938
Expert remark: Compare the closely related material and manner of painting. Note that while this bottle also shows the signature of Ye Zhongsan, it is attributed to a member of the Ye family.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 21 September 2021, lot 461
Price: USD 12,750 or approx. EUR 13,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An inside-painted rock crystal snuff bottle, Ye Zhongsan or Studio, circa 1930
Expert remark: Compare the related form and subject, depicting an elderly man with a young boy on each side, and the closely related manner of painting. Note the different material and the size (6.5 cm). Note that while this bottle also shows the signature of Ye Zhongsan, it is not firmly attributed to the artist.