A molded porcelain snuff bottle, 1821-1850.

A molded porcelain snuff bottle, 1821-1850. photo courtesy Sotheby's

of bulbous pear shape with shoulders sloping to an enlongated cylindrical neck, molded with the 'Eighteen Luohans', one side with nine figures seated around a long table, the other with nine figures discoursing, details of the robes and cloud scrolls around the slender neck picked out in glaze, and the features of the figures enamelled in black and red, the porcelain stopper original to the bottle; height 2 3/4 in., 7 cm. Estimate 6,000—9,000 USD. Lot Sold 6,250 USD

PROVENANCE: Collection of Alice B. McReynolds.
Sotheby's New York, 16th April 1985, lot 8.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, New York and Tokyo, 1976, no. 274.
Patrick K. M. Kwok, 'The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles', Arts of Asia, November-December 1993, pp. 92-97, no. 34.
Vanessa F. Holden, 'The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles', Oriental Art, 2002, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 65-72, figs. 32 & 33.

Sotheby's. The Joe Grimberg Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 14 Sep 10, New York www.sothebys.com