Rock crystal rounded, rectangular snuff bottle

With the introduction of snuff to China during the late Ming dynasty, snuff taking became a nation-wide habit, especially among the Manchus during the Qing dynasty. Accordingly, the small bottles used for storing the powdered snuff became a popular product. This rock crystal snuff bottle has a short and straight neck to the mouth, slanting shoulders, a rounded rectangular body tapering to the bottom, and a short concave foot. It contains an original carved coral stopper in the design of a lizard symbolizing chastity. The rounded rectangular body is elegantly decorated with continuous inside-painted theatrical and landscape scenes. "Although the Qing court fell into decline after the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns, inside-painted snuff bottles registered extraordinary ingenuity by dexterously integrating the classical art of Chinese painting and calligraphy with the craft." (p.9, Inkplay in Microcosm: Inside-painted Chinese Snuff Bottles The Humphrey K. F. Hui Collection ). One side of this rock crystal snuff bottle is skillfully decorated with delicate and fine brushwork portraying the scene of an archer who rides on the back of a horse with his hat hanging behind him. He holds a bow in his left hand and a whip in his right hand. He is looking back and eagerly awaiting the fall of a wild goose which is evidently wounded by his arrow above the mountain range. There are two more wild geese flying vigorously. The reverse side represents a landscape with a fisherman who is sitting in a boat and fishing under the tree. The setting is filled with mountains, trees and cottages. Above the mountains there is an inscription reading "bing shen dong yue xie yu jing shi. Wei zhi fu da jiu da ren ming bi. Xing wu sun lian zhu zuo." It can be translated as follows, "In the month of winter of the Chinese calendar year bing sheng (dated 1896 in the western calendar), I, Sun Lianzhu, with style name or zi Xingwu, was commanded by my great uncle, Zhifu, who is a great gentleman to paint this bottle at the Capital City (Beijing)." Two token seals are attached. Sun Xingwu is one of the renowned and influential lupai (Shandong school) masters of inside-painted snuff bottles who were active from the late 19th century to the early 20th century."Xing wu sun lian zhu zuo" (painted by Sun Lianzhu, with style name or zi Xingwu)