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Hello,
I recently purchased this older bottle in a small set of 6 inside painted bottles. This is the 1st of the 2 or 3 bottles from the set that I intend to post. I am hoping one of the experts might be able to translate the writing for me.
H: 2 5/8"; 6.7cm
thank you for looking

Kind regards

Kevin

This bottle has two stacks of characters that read down and across from the right, beginning with the name "Kui Detian" (魁德田) and then "Handwriting style" (Bi yi - 筆意). I'm presuming that the painter wouldn't sign his own name in this manner, but you may wish to investigate that angle further with experts on the subject.

Kui Detian was active circa 1900 and later. I've included a link here to information on one of his bottles that was auctioned by Sotheby's. Kui was a commercial artist and apparently prolific in his work.

I also found a relevant Chinese-language website (URL pasted below), along with one paragraph of an edited machine translation of its information on the community of painters that included Kui Detian.

https://site.douban.com/108256/widget/works/5022649/

"3. Inside-painter community, workshops, and school, group style and production mechanism: Among the post-Tongzhi & Guangxu period inside-painters (of snuff bottles), besides Zhou Leyuan, Ye Zhongsan, and Ma Shaoxuan, who represent the era artistically, nearly 20 inside-painters can be identified. Those commonly recognized,include Bi Longjiu, Zhang Wentang, Xue Jingwan, Sun Xingwu, Ding Erzhong, Meng Zishou, Zi Yizi, Yan Yutian, Gui Xianggu, Zhang Xiaotian, Chen Zhongsan, Yong Shoutian, Kui Detian, Tang Zichuan, Chen Shaopu, Xue Shaopu, Zeng Tianzhi, Jiang Zhilin and so on. Although these painters include less than three with noteworthy style, they are not actually lacking in value as disciples of others with style. Their imagery can be grouped into different traditions, which may even reveal the organization and structure of the painter's group, and facilitate discussion of whether there was a workshop or guild producing inside-painted snuff bottles. As the signatures of painters and paintings have accumulated to such a number, some researchers have raised the issue of schools. Because these painters were professional practitioners of commercial art and invisible in various kinds of literature of their same period, their analysis can only proceed from the elements, structure and expression of their imagery."

Best regards,

Bill H.

URL Title :Kui Detian Snuff

Great information Bill, many thanks.
I prefer the details in this example, much more so than the one from the Bloch collection, although I see some small similarities between them. Thank you for finding it and for the link.
I have much research ahead, thanks again
Best,
Kevin

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