Lot 563, A rare green-overlay blue glass snuff bottle, 1770-1850; 2 1/8 in. (5.3 cm.) high. Estimate $8,000 – $10,000. Price realised USD 23,750. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The opaque green overlay is carved through to the opaque blue ground with a continuous landscape scene showing a sage on a bridge on one side and two boy attendants preparing a dwelling for his arrival on the other, stone stopper.

Provenance: Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong, 2012.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 5418.

Notes: The color combination seen here, with the opaque green overlay on the blue ground, is extremely rare. The tone of the green glass is also unusual. Paler and more jade-like than the usual bright-green tone, the more pastel hue was presumably intentional to create greater contrast with the deep blue ground.

Christie's. THE RUTH AND CARL BARRON COLLECTION OF FINE CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES: PART II, 16 March 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza