Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

λ A CHINESE INTERIOR-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL SNUFF BOTTLE
DATED 1889

Dated the jichou year, each side painted with figures in a watery landscape with distant mountains, signed Zhou Leyuan, 6cm.

Provenance: from the Ramfield Collection, purchased from Robert Hall, 13th March 2006, a copy of the invoice is available.

己丑（1889年） 周樂元作玻璃內畫山水鼻煙壺
題識：己丑仲秋月周樂元。
來源：Ramfield收藏，2006年3月13日購於Robert Hall （附發票複印件）。

Zhou Leyuan, a prolific late 19th-century interior miniature artist and founder of the popular Beijing School of Snuff Bottle Painting, was active from 1879 to 1893 during the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty. Every artist from the school's first phase owed a significant debt to Zhou, with many beginning their careers by imitating his style and even signing his name; some appeared to dedicate much of their careers to reproducing his work.