Snuff Bottle with Figures in a Pavillion

Snuff bottles with designs painted in blue were produced in great quantities throughout most of the 19th century. Many of the designs - some traditional, some innovative - appear on snuff bottles but not on larger wares such as bowls or vases. On the underside of these bottles, the painters frequently added the reign marks of the great 18th-century emperors, Yongzheng [Yung-cheng] (1723-1735) or Qianlong [Ch'ien-lung] (1736-1795).