The translucent blue glass bottle with raised oval panels on either side is embellished with finely cut mother-of-pearl, on one side with a magpie perched in a flowering prunus tree, the reverse with a butterfly amidst trees with falling leaves. The narrow sides are carved with panels in imitation of bamboo. 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm.) high, quartz stopper

Provenance: Gerry P. Mack Collection; Sotheby's New York, 25 October 1997, lot 3.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2513.

Exhibited: Boston, International Chinese Snuff Bottle Convention, The Barron Collection, 23-26 September 2008.

Notes: The fine quality of this bottle establishes its rarity among embellished glass snuff bottles. Not only is the applied shell incised to enhance the viewers interpretation of the foliage and birds, but it is applied in such thin sections that it allows light to shine through, showing the attractive green and blue iridescent colors of the shell. 

Another blue glass bottle with similar shell embellishment was in the collection of Lila S. Perry, illustrated in her book Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Adventures and Studies of a Collector, Rutland, Vermont, 1960, p. 146, no. 160.

Christie's. The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part III, 14 September 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza