A red-overlay white glass snuff bottle, Yangzhou school, 1850-1890. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2014

Of flattened, rounded form and raised on an oval foot, the bottle is finely carved through the opaque, red overlay with an immortal riding a crane in flight on one side, and a bird perched on a flowering branch on the reverse. An oval seal on one side reads yan nian ('prolonged life'), and the horizontal inscription on the reverse reads yi jie mei shou ('best wishes for longevity'). 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm.) high, glass stopper. Estimate $12,000 – $15,000

Provenance: Marjorie Dillon Lonsdale (1920-2005) Collection, Sarasota, Florida.
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES

Notes: Bottles from this school have recently been re-assessed and can now be designated as Yangzhou School (see H. Moss and S. Sargent, "The World in a Bottle in the World at the End of the Qing Empire. Part 2: Yangzhou Overlay Glass," Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Baltimore, Spring 2011, pp. 22-29.). This distinctive group of glass overlay bottles exhibits finely carved scenes and seal marks through a thin layer of glass to a solid ground tone.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. 20 - 21 March 2014, New York, Rockefeller Plaza - www.christies.com