Edward Choate O'Dell Collection
"The Founder's Collection"
Edward Choate O'Dell founded the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society in 1969, setting in motion an organization that would become the defining institution of the field. His collection reflected the same broad curiosity that made him an effective advocate for the form, ranging across jade, hardstone, organic materials, metal, glass, ceramics, and inside-painted bottles, with quality and range as the guiding principles rather than material preference. When the Society's 1982 meeting was planned for New York City, the board approved a major exhibition drawn from the collection as a tribute to him. O'Dell died unexpectedly on March 24, 1982, at the age of 81, before the exhibition took place, and the catalogue that accompanied it became his memorial.
The bottles Edward Choate O'Dell assembled reflected the same breadth and curiosity he brought to founding the ICSBS itself, spanning the full range of Qing dynasty materials with quality as the only guiding principle.
From the collection
Famille-rose porcelain in double gourd form with millefleurs design
China, 1780–1850, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Porcelain of double gourd form, painted in famille-rose enamels with a millefleurs design; Qianlong nianzhi seal mark in red enamel on base. Formerly in the collection of Mrs. Elmer A. Claar.
Soapstone of spade form with eighteen Luohans and dragon
China, 1740–1800, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period. Snuff bottle. Soapstone of spade form with flaring neck, carved with the eighteen Luohans in a celestial setting supported by a rampant dragon, on a ground of cloud motifs above waves; key-fret border at base and neck with stylized leaf pattern; matching stopper. Formerly in the collection of Martin Schoen.
Turquoise of spade form with archaic bronze and inscription
China, 1750–1850, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Turquoise of spade form with natural color variation and brown matrix, carved in relief with an ancient ceremonial bronze vessel on one side and a medallion with four lines of archaic script reading "Xi Ji Fu made this precious dui vessel for Zhong Qiang to be used and treasured forever from generation to generation" on the other. Formerly in the collection of Dwight C. Harris.
Cinnabar lacquer of flattened baluster form with boys and Buddhist lion
China, 1800–1880, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Cinnabar lacquer of flattened baluster form, carved with two boys playing with a Buddhist lion on one side and a boy among flowering peonies in a landscape on the other; incised Qianlong four-character seal mark on base, probably not of the period.
Laque burgauté on metal with peonies and birds
China, 1780–1880, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Metal lacquered in brownish-black and inlaid with iridescent mother-of-pearl depicting full peony blossoms, foliage, and two birds; gold and shell diaper pattern on the narrow sides and neck; matching stopper.
Embellished lacquer on metal with court ladies and dwarfs
China, 1736–1795, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period. Snuff bottle. Metal with embellished lacquer depicting a royal lady reclining on a kang holding a ruyi scepter with a dwarf servant on one side, and two dwarfs with musical instruments beside a dancing crane and flowering plum tree on the other; Qianlong nianzhi seal mark on base.
Imperial yellow glass carved with crane, deer, and pine
China (Beijing, Palace Workshops), 1750–1820, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Yellow glass carved with a continuous design of a crane under a pine tree on one side and a deer under a pine on the other, all rising from a rocky garden base.
Blue enamel on camphor glass with eight Buddhist emblems
China, 1820–1900, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Camphor-ground glass of bulbous form, decorated in applied blue enamel paste with the eight Buddhist emblems: conch shell, umbrella, endless knot, and wheel of the law on one side; lotus, precious vase, fish, and canopy on the other.
Turquoise blue glass embellished with mother-of-pearl garden landscape
China, 1800–1900, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Opaque turquoise blue glass of ovoid form, embellished with iridescent mother-of-pearl depicting a Chinese garden landscape with flowering trees and birds on each side; fierce mask mounts at the shoulders. Formerly in the collection of Arthur Loveless.
Porcelain with rose du Barry glaze and famille-rose flowers
China (Jingdezhen, Imperial Kilns), 1740–1800, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period. Snuff bottle. Porcelain of baluster form, covered in rose du Barry glaze etched with a stylized vine pattern and painted in famille-rose enamels with flowers and branches; Qianlong nianzhi four-character seal mark in iron red on base. Formerly in the collection of Martin Schoen.
Moulded porcelain with dragon and phoenix
China, 1780–1820, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Porcelain of vase form moulded in high relief with a dragon with open jaws and a flaming pearl in gold on one side, and a phoenix in a celestial garden with clouds and lingzhi on a grey-blue ground on the other.
Imperial white-glazed porcelain moulded with eighteen Luohans
China (Jingdezhen, Imperial Kilns), 1780–1820, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Porcelain moulded with the eighteen Luohans, each with his attribute, on a wave pattern ground beneath a milky white glaze; iron-red flaming pearl at the neck.
Inside-painted chalcedony with goldfish, signed Ye Zhongsan the Younger
China, 1917. Snuff bottle. Chalcedony, inside-painted with fan-tailed goldfish in black and red swimming within a simulated goldfish bowl; signed Ye Zhongsan the Younger and dated autumn 1917.
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