A JASPER ‘TOAD’ SNUFF BOTTLE OFFICIAL SCHOOL, QING DYNASTY, LATE 18TH / MID-19TH CENTURY

well hollowed, with a concave lip and a recessed, slightly convex foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim with rounded edges, carved with a cameo design of a toad stepping off a lotus leaf in a pond defined by formalized waves to climb a clump of cattail to get at a beetle that has settled on a leaf, with a lotus flower behind the toad; the coral stopper with a plastic collar

Robert Hall, London, 1996.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1998, no. 309.

There are four minute flakes to the outer lip and a small chip to one antenae of the insect. Otherwise the snuff bottle is in overall quite good 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. 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."

The form of the present bottle is reminiscent of the squatter and more bulbous ceramic forms of the Daoguang period. The use of frogs or toads on lotus leaves as decoration also does not seem to have become popular on porcelain bottles until the first half of the nineteenth century, although they a were standard subject for glass overlays from the Qianlong period through into the nineteenth century.  The carving of the present bottle is also typical of early-nineteenth-century glass double-overlay techniques applied to jasper, which quite commonly allows three (sometimes more) different planes of colour in a single specimen.