China, 18^th to early 19^th century. Of high-shouldered tapering form, the body with horizontal striations of brilliant orange and pale olive-green with mottled splashes of red imitating the mineral realgar, carved on the narrow sides with a pair of lion mask and ring handles.

Provenance: From an old private collection in New York, USA, and thence by descent within the family to the present owner.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and minuscule nibbles, the neck possibly minimally smoothened.

Stopper: Quartz cabochon with a carved and stained spoon
Weight: 48.3 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 70 mm. Diameter neck 16 mm and mouth 9 mm

There is a wide range of glass, particularly popular with the snuff-bottle maker, which imitated realgar. Realgar is the least toxic of all arsenic compounds, but it tends to break down on long exposure to sunlight and eventually disintegrates into a fine powder. It is the fifth basic element to the Chinese and played an important role for the alchemist, for whom it symbolized longevity and immortality.

The present bottle is superbly made, with excellent carving and integrity of form. The abstract markings suggest the heart of a blazing fire in which everything is transformed. This is particularly appropriate for the Daoist alchemist attempting to transform base metal into gold and limited existence into immortality as metaphors for the transformation of human consciousness.

Literature comparison: For a realgar glass bottle still in the Imperial Collection, see Masterpieces of Snuff Bottles in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1995, p. 82, no. 58. For a series of five realgar glass bottles of various types, in The Victoria and Albert Museum, in bequests from 1901-1936, see H. White, Snuff Bottles from China, London, 1992, pl. 63. For a discussion of bottles based on the substance realgar, see H. Moss, V. Graham and K. B. Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection, New York, 1993, pp. 578-579, nos. 345-346.

Auction result comparison: Compare with a related bottle carved with chilong at Christie’s New York in The Blanche B. Exstein Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles on 21 March 2002, lot 1, sold for USD 7,638. Compare also with a closely related but marked bottle at Christie’s Hong Kong in Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the J & J Collection on 25 April 2004, lot 804, sold for HKD 191,200, and another at Bonhams Hong Kong in Snuff Bottles from the Mary and George Bloch Collection Part I on 28 May 2010, lot 72, sold for HKD 216,000.

清代仿雄黃料鼻烟壺
中國，十八至十九世紀初。削肩，扁平，呈亮橙色和泛着淡淡的橄欖綠色，並帶有红色斑纹，仿雄黃。两肩獅面衔耳環。

來源：紐約私人老收藏, 在同一家族保存直至現任藏家
品相：狀況極佳，略有磨損，磕损很小，頸部可能略微打磨过。

壺蓋：石英，染色雕刻小壺匙
重量：48.3 克
尺寸：總高70 毫米，頸部直徑16 毫米，嘴部直徑9 毫米

拍賣結果比較：一件相近螭龍纹鼻烟壺見紐約佳士得The Blanche B. Exstein Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles拍場，2002年3月21日 lot 1, 售價USD 7,638. ；一件相近但有款的鼻烟壶見香港佳士得Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the J & J Collection 拍場，2004年4月25日 lot 804, 售價HKD 191,200, ；以及香港邦翰斯Snuff Bottles from the Mary and George Bloch Collection Part I 拍場，2010年5月28日 lot 72, 售價HKD 216,000.