A brown glass overlay snuff bottle. Yangzhou school, early 19th century

Of flattened rectangular form rising from a short straight oval foot ring, finely carved through the layer of pale brown overlay to the opaque milky white glass, depicting a traveller riding a mule across a bridge, followed by an attendant, the reverse with a fisherman standing in a boat trying to sell his catch to an elderly gentleman seated on a pier, the sides each with a seven-character inscription written in archaic script, stopper. 7.1cm (2¾in) high. (2). Sold for HK$78,000

Provenance: Christie's London, 19 June 2001, lot 249

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Works of Art and Paintings, 21 May 2009. Island Shangri-La Hong Kong Hotel, Admiralty, Hong Kong www.bonhams.com