FOUR CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES

FOUR CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES
QING DYNASTY

One painted with a dignitary on horseback and his attendant, outlined against a black ground; another of meiping shape with a metallic glaze; a third of globular form with a green crackle glaze; and one jade, carved in low relief with a stag and a bird in a rocky landscape beneath pine trees; together with a soapstone seal of square section surmounted by a chilong with a lingzhi spray in its jaws; and two jade pebble pendants, the stones of celadon colour with dark russet inclusions, 8.2cm max. (7)

Provenance: from the collection of Colonel William Edmund Pye (1872-1949). Commissioned into the British Army in 1892, he served with the Indian Army in Tirah between 1897-98, then in 1900 was sent to China as the leader of the British Section of the International Police. It was at this time he started his collection, which has passed by decent to the current owner. Other items from his collection were sold at Christie’s South Kensington, 13th May 2011.