A BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN 'FISHERMAN' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, MID-19TH CENTURY

with a convex lip and recessed, slightly concave circular foot surrounded by a protruding convex footrim, painted with a continuous scene of a man fishing from a small boat in a vast waterscape, just offshore from a foreground piece of land to our left that features reeds, a rock formation, and two trees through whose upper branches an impressive distant mountain can be seen rising on the far side of the water, pushing to and over the edge of the shoulder and embracing on the left side of its summit a residence, trailing clouds passing behind the peak but in front of the residence, the neck with a band of formalized lingzhi, the foot inscribed in underglaze-blue regular script Zuogu (‘Imitating antiquity’); the pearl stopper with a coral finial

Robert Kleiner, London, 1993.

Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, The British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 230.
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 6, Hong Kong, 2007, no. 1375.

Apart from some slight glaze nibble on the lip the snuff bottle is in overall very good condition. There is some faint original yellow crackles on the white ground. The actual tone of the cobalt is somewhat brighter, less ultramarine compared to the catalogue illustration.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Compare the present bottle with lot 124 in this sale. Both bear the same zuogu mark; are of identical, distinctive shape; have the same two lines separating the neck from the shoulders, repeated at the base; and both are well painted in similar tones of cobalt blue.