A rare Imperial yellow glass 'wave' snuff bottle, Imperial Palace Workshops, Beijing, 1760-1840. Photo: Bonhams.

Of compressed globular shape above a recessed oval foot, the exterior relief-carved with a continuous faceted wave design. 6.2cm high. Sold for HK$ 312,500 (€29,621)

Provenance: Ashkenazie & Co., San Francisco, 1990

Notes: ompare to an identical example illustrated by Moss, Graham and Tsang, The Art of The Chinese Snuff Bottle: Vol.2, New York, 1993, p.587, no.351. According to the authors, the distinctive design on the small group of very similar bottles represented by this example were common in the early Imperial Palace Workshops, Beijing, and such faceted and formalised designs were probably conceived primarily as an abstract formal design. Compare also another similar example formerly in the Anin and John Hamilton collection, sold in Sotheby's New York, 27 March 2003, Lot 221.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. Hong Kong, Admiralty, 26 May 2014 14:00 HKT - http://www.bonhams.com/