A RARE COBALT-DECORATED BISCUIT PORCELAIN 'DATED' SNUFF BOTTLEWith cyclical date wuxu year probably corresponding to 1898 Of rectangular shape with short cylindrical neck and oval foot ring, painted on each unglazed main face with figures in a landscape scenes below inscriptions including the date, all in cobalt firing to a black tone; stopper. 2 3/4in (6.9cm) high 戊戌年（或1898） 素胎繪「漁僬問答」人物署年鼻烟壺 Provenance: John Ault Robert Kleiner, The John Ault Collection, 16 September 2010 Exhibited: International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society Convention, New York, 5-9 November 2013, no. 134 The cyclical date on this bottle is notbined with a reign name so we can only suggest a production date of 1898. A date of 1838, the previous cycle, whilst not impossible seems unlikely, given the pendant neck decoration which seems more in keeping with late Qing production and the use of cobalt on the biscuit without a covering glaze, thus rendering the blue to a black pigment. This is interestingly highlighted at the rim of the mouth where the blackened cobalt can be seen to return to its natural blue color where it is covered by the glaze. A blue and white example with similar scenes was sold at Sotheby's, The Neal W. and Frances R. Hunter Collection, New York, 15 September 1998, lot 167.