Seashells and Chinese Snuff Bottles

This book was actually intended to do nothing more than give a summary of all of my malacological transcripts which have been published in Spixiana (Munich) and La Conchiglia (Rome) over a period of some 20 years. My professional activity in the last 30 years has no longer allowed me to keep at this seashell hobby, in terms of both collecting and publishing. Thanks to my friend, the late Josef Fittkau, former director of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, it was agreed that my very extensive collection of seashells would one day be integrated into the collections of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology.

Some of the favourites in my collection were “Bursidae” and “Distorsio”. My diverse publications not insig- nificantly helped make more comprehensible what had been a somewhat confusing classification for the two families of these seashell species. My last publications on the Personidae family (“Distorsio”) were followed by further works from diverse malacologists who took a position in particular with regard to some of my works, but in my opinion the contents of their works did not correspond to the facts. I also took this as an opportunity to report once again on my “beloved Distorsio” in this book. As already mentioned, this book was meant only to constitute a summarization of all of my malacological publications.

During recent years, a new passion for collecting seized me and I began collecting Chinese snuff bottles. It is often said that many collectors who have run out of space at home for their collections of works of art are “forced” to continue collecting smaller objects. This was perhaps also what happened with me. These treasures of the Chinese minor arts represented the ideal collecting field because they are in fact easy to accommodate. Luckily I avoided having to pay dearly for my inexperience when I started collecting snuff bottles, although apparently many other collectors have unfortunately made this mistake. I started by collecting primarily novel snuff bottles on the basis of their material characteristics, shape and beauty. Only later did I also cautiously turn my attention to older and rare snuff bottles. Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to experience the public’s completely incomprehensible disinterest in the collection of the UHU glue heir, J. L. Fischer, at an auction at Nagel in Stuttgart. For many years, J. L. Fischer intensively collected items such as glass, ceramic, porcelain, and even paintings and other objects of art from China. One of J. L. Fischer’s passions was for snuff bottles, and he published a fantastic book on this subject. In a post-auction sale, I acquired the major portion of the complete collection of snuff bottles, including many older and unusual bottles. J. L. Fischer had won- derful connections in China, and a government official in Beijing helped to arrange contacts, appointments, and even exhibitions.

In recent years, I have primarily focused my collecting on “inside-painted snuff bottles”, which, in my opinion, represent the most incredible and amazing skill in Chinese painting and artisanship. The art of inside painting is not very old (it began sometime around the last third of the 19th century). Sometimes it takes several weeks or even months to complete such a bottle. As in other areas of life and art, there was progress in the art of inside-painted snuff bottles over the years and a new generation of artists from China, such as Wang Xisan, Liu Shouben and Li Kechang recently left their mark. Astonishing that again and again there are artists who take that next step, such as, in my opinion, Jiang Wenchun, born in 1937. I personally view his work, shown in plate 92, page 262, as the greatest tour de force that I have seen achieved by an artist in this area.

This book shows a part of my collection, a mix of older and newer snuff bottles, all between roughly 5 cm and 11 cm high. As can be seen in the illustrations, these involve various materials, such as glass, porcelain, ceramic, semi-precious stones (such as agate), metal and also natural products, such as bamboo, coconut, etc. Many glass bottles of all types were used for the older bottles, while for the newer ones, the Chinese artists are increasingly turning to harder types of stone and also semi-precious stones; technology makes it easier to hollow out the bottles. Illustrations 1 to 24 show snuff bottles from more recent times, all made from between roughly 1950/1970 and recent years. Illustrations 25 to 89 show older snuff bottles, all from the Qing Dynasty during the 18th and 19th centuries. Illustrations 90 to 118 show inside-painted bottles or snuff bottles of another kind where the artist’s name is known.