A porcelain snuff bottle with eighteen luohan, Jiaqing period. Estimate US$ 2,000 - 3,000 (€1,800 - 2,700). Photo Bonhams. 

Of compressed spherical form with a thin neck, flat lip, tall oval foot ring, molded with a continuous design of the Eighteen Luohan, some with an animal or attribute, a dragon descending from clouds near the neck, the scene picked out on a ground of dense waves; all surfaces except for the foot pad covered with white glaze. 2 3/8in (6cm) high 

Provenance: Robert Kleiner, Palm Beach Convention, 30 October 1997

Notes: See similar examples molded with luohan illustrated by Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, no. 278. A cream-glazed example in the Victoria and Albert Museum is illustrated by H. White, Snuff Bottles from China, pl. 115, no. 3. 

Luohan (the term is the standard abbreviated Chinese transcription of the Sanskrit arhat) are disciples of Buddha who have transcended the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and are honored by all beings in heaven and on earth. Their numbers can run into the thousands, but certain groups became established over the centuries, including a group of five hundred of Hindu origin. A standard group of eighteen was well established by the Qing dynasty for depiction in art.

Bonhams. CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES FROM THE COLLECTION OF BARBARA AND MARVIN DICKER, 16 Mar 2015 10:00 EDT - NEW YORK