A CARVED SILHOUETTE AGATE ‘GUANDI’ SNUFF BOTTLE, OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1760-1840The mineral of a deep honey-brown color, with several dark inclusions cleverly used to enhance the design, outstanding manual polishChina, 1760-1840Incised and carved in light relief to depict Guandi, the god of war, with a sword in his raised right hand. Lion mask ring handles on both narrow sides, carved in high relief. This is a good example of the lower-relief range of partial cameo carvings typical of the school that fall between the standard high-relief type and those known as "silhouette agates" where only a thin sliver of darker color is selected to form the design. The bottle shows particular inventiveness in the use of the varied range of coloring in the stone.Shape: Flattened square form with rounded shouldersHollowing: ExcellentMouth, neck and lip: Short cylindric neck with convex top and slanted lipBase: Rectangular base with raised foot rim and rounded cornersDesign, marks, school: Official schoolStopper: Green serpentine on black platelet, good old spoonHeight of the bottle with stopper: 6.7 cm.Width of the mouth: 8 mm.Width of the neck: 21 mm.Weight: 66.2 gramsCondition: Excellent, with two minuscule nibbles to lipProvenance: From a Beverly Hills, California, private estate, old collector number to baseLiterature comparison: For a discussion on the Official School of hardstone carving, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 2, Quartz, no. 258, with numerous examples.Auction result comparison: Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from The J&J Collection, Part IV. Christies, New York|22 March 2007, lot 87. (for a very similar bottle)影子瑪瑙巧雕關帝鼻烟壺,官方工坊, 1760-1840、蜜褐色,深色肌理部位巧雕,表面抛光出色中國, 1760-1840壺型:方形扁平,圓肩掏膛:優秀壺口、頸與唇部:短直頸,壺口表面凸出,斜唇底足:方底,高圈足,圓角造型、落款及流派: 官家工坊壺蓋:綠色蛇紋石,黑色托片,老杓良好壺高(含壺蓋):6.7 厘米口徑:8 毫米壺頸寬:21 毫米重量:66.2 克品相:優秀,唇部兩處微不足道小磕碰來源:加利福尼亞比佛利山私人產業,底部可見收藏家老標簽