A DENDRITIC CHALCEDONY SNUFF BOTTLEOfficial School, 1750-1850 Of spherical spade shape with cylindrical neck, a natural encircled dark inclusion to one side has been cleverly utilized with the addition of carving to depict Lui Hai's magical three-legged toad supporting a small daoist pavilion on a plume of vapor that rises from its mouth silhouetted against the moon, whilst on the other side, carved in low relief and again using the darker swirling and dotted inclusions, Lui Hai is depicted with his string of cash dressed in flowing robes and gesticulating, with a mythical chilong flying behind; stopper. 1 7/8in (4.8cm) high 1750-1850 頒賜類 瑪瑙巧刻劉海鼻煙壺 Provenance: Pat Miller, Hawaii Robert Kleiner, The Pat Miller Collection, 1 October 2005 Exhibited: International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, New York, 5-9 November 2013, no. 113 For another agate bottle depicting Liu Hai and his three-legged toad, see Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 3-4 December 2015, lot 655.. For further discussion of Liu Hai and his mythical toad, see Michael C. Hughes, The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Chinese Snuff Bottles , Baltimore, 2009, pp. 36-37, no 22. Liu Hai is usually depicted as a boy or a young man wearing bangs across his forehead and a robe that is drawn open across his chest. He carries a string of cash and is often depicted teasing the three-legged toad. He is revered as the god of wealth. See also Therese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art , Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2006, p. 150, no. 6.24.