A FOUR-COLOR OVERLAY ‘SNOWFLAKE’ GROUND GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE, 18TH-19TH CENTURY China. Of compressed circular form, with an oval foot, recessed base, and straight cylindrical neck. The bubble-suffused ‘snowflake’ ground overlayed in ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green and lemon yellow to depict a crane flying over a pavilion, the reverse with a pavilion emerging from clouds, both atop a circumferential wave border, all in high relief and with fine incision work.

Provenance: From an English private collection.
Condition: Good condition with manufacturing irregularities such as open bubbles, small chips to the carving, minor nibbling to the lip and foot rim.

Stopper: Ruby red glass stopper
Weight: 84 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 80 mm. Diameter neck 18 mm and mouth 11 mm.

Literature comparison: For a full explanation of the symbolism of the subject matter of this bottle, which in general expresses good birthday wishes and longevity, see Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, ‘A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles. The Mary and George Bloch Collection’, Vol. 5, Part 2, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 522, no. 921, where a similarly carved blue overlay bottle is discussed.

十八至十九世紀雪花地四色套料鼻烟壺
中國。扁圓形，圓柱形直頸，橢圓形圈足，雪花地套寶石紅、寶藍、翠綠和檸檬黃色料，一面描繪了一隻仙鶴高飛，一旁祥雲寶珠，下面水上亭台 ；另一面水中祥雲托升起一座樓閣。

來源：英國私人收藏。
品相：狀況良好，製造瑕疵，例如開放的氣泡、小磕損，唇部和足緣的輕微磕損。

壺蓋: 寶石紅玻璃壺蓋
重量：84 克
尺寸：含蓋高80 毫米；頸部直徑18 毫米，及口部直徑11 毫米