A RARE CHINESE BROWN OVERLAY GLASS YANGZHOU SCHOOL SNUFF BOTTLE

A RARE CHINESE BROWN OVERLAY GLASS YANGZHOU SCHOOL SNUFF BOTTLE BY WANG SU
C.1820-40

The rectangular milky-white body decorated with a cat on a pierced rock looking up at a butterfly, the reverse with foliage, flowers and rockwork, the shoulder signed Xiaomei, 6.2cm.

Provenance: an English private collection, purchased from Robert Kleiner & Co. Ltd., 30th June 2010, a copy of the invoice is available.

Very few Yangzhou bottles are signed by the artist. Here, the seal Xiaomei, (little prunus) was used by the celebrated Yangzhou painter Wang Su (1794 - 1877). A cat and a butterfly signify the wish that the recipient lives to be 70 or 80.