A TRIPLE OVERLAY GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE

of elongated oval form, overlaid in yellow, green and lacquer-red on a bubble suffused ground, carved on one face with a boy on a buffalo flying a kite, and on the other with a boy leaning from a boat on a lotus pond, a crane flying above

Edward Choate O'Dell Collection.
Collection of Janos Szekeres.
Sotheby's New York, 27th October 1986, lot 28.
Collection of Edgardo Potoukian Esq.
Sotheby's London, 24th April 1989, lot 249.

Newsletter of the Chinese Snuff Bottle Society of America, June 1973, p. 12, fig. 23.
John Gilmore Ford, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Edward Choate O'Dell Collection, Baltimore, 1982, no. 136.

TThere are some small chips to the overlay as follows: there is a very small chip to the overlay at the end of the boy's boat, and two very small chips to the edges of the cloud beneath the kite. There is a very small chip on the bird's wing and a tiny chip to the end of the left hand petal of the lotus flower in the vase. The end of the boys whip has a tiny chip.
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.

This bottle is unusual in its use of the initial yellow layer primarily to emphasize the shading of, and to give luminescence to, the upper green glass layer above, with the yellow glass emerging only around the neck of the bottle. The third layer of lacquer-red glass has also been used sparingly and carefully to highlight the most important elements of the design. Triple overlay glass bottles are rare within the Yangzhou School. Clare Lawrence, 'An Analysis of the Seal School Group of Glass Snuff Bottles', JICSBS, Summer 1993, p. 5, notes that there are only approximately twenty examples of the multiple overlay type, which fall into two color groups: those with green, cinnabar red, caramel, black and milk white; or those with subtle shades of green, ochre, rose pink and milk white. An example of the latter color group is in the present collection, lot 106.