AN OVERLAY GLASS 'POCKET-WATCH' SNUFF BOTTLE, QIANLONG / JIAQING PERIODTransparent glass with flowing hues of bright carmine red, translucent olive-green overlayChina, 1770-1830 This particular copy of a European watch is rather unique in the snuff-bottle world. It may be surprising, given imperial interest in European watches and clocks from the Kangxi period onwards, that there are not more imperial snuff bottles of this design from the earlier eighteenth century, but as a general rule, snuff bottles copying watches were made only from the late-Qianlong period onwards, becoming particularly popular during the nineteenth century. Perhaps with the court awash with the real thing, there was little incentive to create exact copies of them on snuff bottles.The unusual palette of bright carmine red and olive-green gives the decoration a distinctly European appearance. The numbers shown on the dial are roman and range from I – XII, while the hands show three o’clock precisely on both sides. The shoulders are decorated with neatly carved archaistic lion masks. While it is a remote possibility that the present bottle might have been a direct response from the imperial glassworks to a particular European watch, intended to be presented to the court at some point, it could also very well have been a simple yet clever novelty object for a private audience. Shape: Rounded globular hear shapeHollowing: StandardMouth, neck and lip: Wide mouth, convex top, slanted lipBase: Oval raised foot rimDesign, marks, school: Possibly imperial glassworks BeijingStopper: Hardstone stopper with spoonHeight of the bottle with stopper: 4.8 cm.Width of the mouth: 7 mm.Width of the neck: 15 mm.Weight: 28.9 gramsCondition: One minuscule nibble to the right ear of one of the lion masks, otherwise absolutely perfect conditionProvenance: Hungarian private collectionLiterature comparison: It might simplify matters to separate this bottle from production destined for imperial uses, however an imperial connection cannot completely be ruled out. A small series of watch-form bottles produced in the late Qianlong period and bearing reign marks proves an imperial interest in the design. A splendid example from the Robert and Molly Hsieh Collection is illustrated in The Blair Bequest: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Princeton University Art Museum, Michael Hughes, Baltimore: International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 2002, no. 282; compare also with another example sold at Sotheby's New York, 23 March 2004, lot 95.Auction result comparison: SNUFF BOTTLES FROM THE MARY AND GEORGE BLOCH COLLECTION: PART X. Sotheby's, 1 JUNE 2015, HONG KONG, lot 113. (for an enameled pocket watch bottle) The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles: Part III. Christies, New York, 14 September 2016, lot 410. (for a porcelain pocket watch bottle) IMPORTANT CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES FROM THE J & J COLLECTION. Christies, New York, 30 March 2005, lot 45. (for a gold and silver inlaid copper pocket watch bottle)套料懷錶紋鼻烟壺,乾隆/嘉慶年透明胭脂紅地套橄欖綠料器中國, 1770-1830 壺型: 球狀心形掏膛: 規整壺口、頸與唇部:寬口,平面壺口,撇唇底足: 橢圓圈足造型、落款及流派:或爲北京御製料器壺蓋: 硬石,小杓壺高(含壺蓋): 4.8 厘米口徑: 7 毫米壺頸寬: 15 毫米重量: 28.9 克品相: 獅首一右耳有輕微磕碰,其他部分保存極好來源: 匈牙利私人收藏