At the late 16th century the custom of
tobacco-leave smoking and snuffing was spread from the Philippines to Japan by Portuguese
and Spanish sailors, traders , missionaries. Tobacco was planted in the Japanese Imperial
Garden and in the southern coastal trade ports. At the beginning of 17th century smoking
is very popular in the upper-class, just like the tea, as an symbol of respecting guests.
Then it spread to the Northeast China and Korea. Snuffing soon became a custom there. At
the same time , Russia businessmen took tobacco, snuff and snuff boxes
down to Northeast China and Inner-Mongolia. Chinese
snuff bottle is called the epitome of Chinese arts ,such as painting, calligraphy,
carving,inlaying,handicrafts, ceramics, glassware, enamel, etc. And it is. It really is.
This is why Chinese snuff bottle is well-known all over the world for years.
During the Qing Dynasty, bottles were mainly made out of
Guangzhou, Beijing, Boshan (in Shandong Province), Inner-Mongolia, Liaoning Province and
Tibet. Inner-Mongolia famous for its silver snuff bottles, and Liaoning for agate ones,
and Tibet metal ones.
To make an inside painting bottle, painter must work on the
rubbed inside surface throughout the mouth of a bottle. Fine pictures are painted. It
looks magnificent and smooth and so gains much admiration. In Europe is fairly expensive.
It is said that it was emerged between the years of Qianlong
and Jiaqing (two Qing Dynasties) ,so it has been a kind of Chinese art for 200 years.
Here*s an legend of its origin. In the late years of Qianlong (a Qing Dynasty), an
official went to Beijing for business and then addicted to snuff. With his business failed
and all money running out of him, he had to lodge in a poor temple. Due to the snuffing
addiction and with no money to buy it, he digged the remainder on the inside surface by a
smoke-pick. As a result he drew many marks in it. Later a Buddhist monk saw this and got
an inspiration. He then digged a picture of bamboo with hook inside the surface of a
transparent bottle. This may be how the inside-painting snuff bottle occurs.
How is a bottle been made?
At the beginning painter painted on the inside surface of the
transparent glass or crystal snuff bottle. Since the surface is smooth and uneasy to be
described, only simple pictures , for example, katydids, cabbage, landscape, were
completed. Then the bottle is filled with iron sand and emery, shaken and robbed as rough
as Xuan Paper.Next , fine pictures, such as the figures, flowers, birds are painted. All
work should be done with great care.
From the years of Guangxu to early 20th century, the art of
inside painting reached its prosperity. The painting subjects are very wide and many
highly-skilled painters occurred. The most famous were: Zhou Leyuan, Ma Shaoxuan, Ding
Zrzhong, Ye Zhongsan, Bi Longjiu, Zhang Wentang and Xue Jingwan.
Ye Zhongsan was born in 1875 and died in 1945. The pictures
he painted includes flowers, birds, mountains, rivers, figures, plants, insects and any
other possible things. At the same time he modeled after the works of Zhou Leyuan and Ma
Shaoxuan. These made his works very popular overseas. In the Chongyang Festival of 1913,
he painted a picture of a mythical legend: Zhong Kui. One side is Zhong Kui and the other
side his sister. The pictures linked up each other and combined as a whole and can be
separated individually. Ye Xiaofeng and Ye Fengqi, sons of Ye Zhongsan, carried on
father's skill and have achieved great success,too.
Wang Xisan, whose former name was Wang Ruicheng, was born in
1938. In 1957 he learned the art of the inside painting from Ye Xiaofeng and Ye Fengqi. On
the basis of his traditional skillful teachers, he learned good points from each schools,
especially Chinese painting and calligraphy. He mixed them into the inside painting and
got the top standard. In 1978, Wang Xisan was conferred the title "Handicraft
Artist" and in 1988 "Master of Chinese Handicraft" by the Department of
Light Industry.
Zhang Rucai, since 1972, he has learned from Wang Xisan who
is the founder of Hebei School Inside Painting Snuff Bottle.
In April 1996, Zhang Rucai was conferred Master of Chinese
Folk Arts & Crafts by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). In June the same year, he was awarded Master of China Arts &
Crafts by China Light Industrial General Association and received by Premier Li Peng.
Zhang Rucai is the chief director of the Chinese Handicraft
Research Association of Snuff Painting. From 1985, he was invited abroad many times to
attend various fairs and cultural and art exchange activities. The international fame of
Zhang Rucai is rising as his snuff bottles works were bought by collectors of different
countries. |
