清十九世紀 淺藍料鋪獸首鼻煙壺 （傳）揚州製

of semi-transparent turquoise-blue glass with a few scattered, small air bubbles, with a very slightly concave lip and a recessed, slightly convex foot surrounded by a protruding flattened footrim, the narrow sides carved with mask-and-ring handles; the tourmaline stopper with a gilt-silver collar

Hugh M. Moss Ltd，1995年

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷5，香港，2002年，編號783

There is a extremely faint nick to the inner footrim; otherwise the snuff bottle is in very good condition. The snuff bottle is of a somewhat deeper and warmer tone 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."

This bottle is from what we used to refer to as the Li Junting school and have now determined to be a late-nineteenth-century school probably located in Yangzhou (see Hugh Moss and Stuart Sargent, 'The World in a Bottle in the World at the End of the Qing Dynasty. Part 2. Yangzhou Overlay Glass', Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Spring 2011). Our clue to this attribution is supplied by the style of the mask handles. Mask-and-ring handles were a regular, if not common, feature of the school and are remarkably consistent when found on the better carvings. The regularly curly pates of the standard courtly mask are simplified and formalized. What were eyebrows on the original have now become long, sweeping lines ending in the first curl on each side, high above the eyes. The rest of the hair is defined by two further curls only, terminating at the apex of the long forehead. In this case, some formalized hair appears, carved on the upper curls, but this is unusual.

The elongated ring handles are a further feature typical of the school, although these represent a general rather than a local trend in the mid-Qing period. The significant point lies in the fact that whenever mask handles are found on these Yangzhou bottles, the rings are almost invariably elongated, sometimes exaggeratedly so.

This colour appears sufficiently often from the Yangzhou school, as an overlay and occasionally as a ground colour, to be accepted as part of the standard range (see, for instance, see examples from the Bloch collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 28th May 2010, lot 119 and 27th May 2012, lot 59, as well as a further example illustrated by Moss et al., 1996-2009, vol. 5, nos 1039 and 1044). An example of an equally rare carved monochrome glass bottle attributable to the same school is provided by another example in the Bloch collection, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 28th November 2011, lot 96.