AN EMBELLISHED CHALCEDONY SNUFF BOTTLE

of tall rectangular form, supported on a raised oval foot, and with a cylindrical neck, beautifully embellished on all four sides with steatite, lacquer, malachite, gilding and litharge to depict 'Precious Antiques', including a finely incised table screen and stand, surrounded by a cinnabar lacquer stand displaying three seals, a ruyi scepter, and a baluster vase holding a pine branch, the reverse with a brushpot containing literati articles and peacock feathers behind a horn libation cup, the translucent agate of a smooth pale gray tone

Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Bob C. Stevens Collection.
Sotheby's Honolulu, 7th November 1981, lot 200.
The Collection of Eric Young.
La Société Jersiaise.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th October 1993, lot 1161 and cover.
Sotheby's New York, 19th September 2001, lot 246.

Chinese Snuff Bottles and Dishes: An Exhibition of Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Bob C. Stevens Collection at Mikimoto Hall, Tokyo, 22nd-31st October 1978, cat.no. 351.

Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Toyko, 1976, p. 219, cat.no. 813.
JICSBS, Spring 1987, p. 21.
JICSBS, Winter 2001, p. 31, fig. 4. 

There are some minor losses to the embellishments and two tiny nibbles on the mouth rim. It is in otherwise good condition. The color is not as red as the print catalogue images suggest.
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.

A discussion of this bottle's origins as Chinese rather than Japanese was presented by Bob C. Stevens in his publication, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Toyko, 1976, p. 224. In his research on embellished bottles, including this one, he met with Fukuya Tsuda in Kyoto, a snuff bottle artist who with his father were renowned for their expertise on embellishing old Chinese bottles. Mr. Tsuda, upon inspecting the present bottle, along with other embellished examples in Mr. Stevens' collection, attributed the bottles to be Chinese, stating 'that in his opinion no-one in Japan was capable of doing the meticulous work required in fashioning the many small pieces of hardstone and fitting them together to make the intricate designs that embellish these bottles.' Whether or not this is accurate, it is unlikely Mr. Tsuda, or his father, decorated this bottle, since he did not recognize it as one of their embellishments. 

For an example of a Tsuda Family embellished bottle, compare a chalcedony bottle in the collection of Denis S. K. Low and illustrated in Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect III, Singapore, 2007, fig. 306, p. 353.