A CARVED WHITE JADE SNUFF BOTTLE
1750-1820
Of even white tone, of flattened, teardrop form with a cylindrical neck and a neatly carved oval footrim, very well-hollowed, continuously carved with a scaly dragon flying through scrolling clouds with a pair of bats; stopper.
2 1/2in (6.2cm) high
Footnotes:
1750-1820 淺棕白玉刻祥龍降福鼻煙壺一件

Provenance:
Jade House, May 1986
Joan and Ted Dorf Collection, no. 74

The elegant teardrop form of this bottle with its continuous decoration of a scaly dragon wrapped around the bottle may stand as the precursor for nineteenth-century porcelain bottles of the same shape, where the dragon is often rendered in iron-red enamel reserved against underglaze blue decoration.

Good condition, with a very elegant shape and even white color. There are some some small cloudy patches incorporated into the design of two bats in flight near the dragon's mouth.