A WHITE JADE MUGHAL STYLE SNUFF BOTTLE

very well hollowed, of rounded square form with shoulders sloping to a tapered neck, supported on a carved oval footrim with scalloped edges, carved in low relief on one face with the Heavenly Flute Master, Xiaozhi, draped in celestial scarves and playing the flute, standing with one foot upon a lotus flower, the reverse with Nuazha blowing a trumpet, standing upon Wheels of Fire, below a collar of trefoil lappets, above upright lappets at the foot, the shoulders suspending lotus leaves and tassels, the recessed base with an apocryphal six-character Da Qing Qianlong Yuwan ('Great Qing Qianlong Imperial Treasure') mark, the stone of highly polished white tone

Yamanaka & Co., Inc.
Martin Schoen Collection.
Belle Shoen.
Joseph Baruch Silver Collection.
Clare Lawrence Ltd.
JWA Intl. Ltd.
The Jade Collector.

Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles of the 17th and 18th Centuries from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Schoen, China Institute in America, New York, 1st December 1952 - 31st January 1953, cat.no. 2.

Patrick K. M. Kwok, 'The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles', Arts of Asia, November-December 1993, p. 94, no. 22.

In overall excellent condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For an example of a Mughal-style white jade bottle with an accepted four-character Qianlong nianzhi mark on the base, see Clare Lawrence, Miniature Masterpieces from the Middle Kingdom: The Monimar Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, London, 1996, pp. 154-155, fig. 71. In the author's discussion on the subject of the mark, she states 'A group of bottles carved in this style exist, some of which have eighteenth century marks, but which can be dated for other stylistic reasons to the Guangxu period, late in the 19th century.'