A CHALCEDONY SNUFF BOTTLE AND SNUFF DISH OFFICIAL SCHOOL, QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

Collection of Alexander Brindle. 
JWA International.
Robert Kleiner, London, 1995. 

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. 360.

The bottle is in overall very good condition. The dish has some typical wear from use in addition to a polished chip to the base.
"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."

Due to its mark, the bottle was once suspected to have been made specifically for the fifth Prince Ding (定郡王, Zaiquan 載銓1794 - 1854). Closer inspection has led to the conclusion the the mark is spurious, added shortly before the bottle entered the Bloch collection.

Part of the difficulty in authenticating Xingyouheng Tang marks lies in the fact that Zaiquan seems to have employed a number of different styles of calligraphy and several different methods of incising them. Lot 100 in this sale has a wheel-cut, regular-script inscription very similar in style to the inscriptions on a Bloch spinach-green nephrite bottle and a Bloch black-skinned jade (lots 91 and 35, respectively, of this sale). The present piece is in a distinctive style of seal script that also appears on a white jade bottle in this collection (Sale 7, lot 47).

The incising of the mark retains traces of red pigment that looks very similar to that on Sale 2, lot 22, with about the same amount remaining, which is convincing; the only unconvincing aspect of this bottle is the obviously artificial rubbing on the recessed foot over the mark.

Another bottle with this sort of text, which may be written by the same hand, is a ruby-red glass bottle with typical palace mask-and-ring handles that could well have been made in the first half of the nineteenth century, when Zaiquan was active. Other styles are seen on other examples in this auction and on Sale 2, lot 131.

The matching dish here was already in the Bloch Collection when this bottle was acquired, but it suited it so well in material and colour that a wedding was organized. It is not as well detailed around the foot as the bottle, but it comes close.