Lot Essay
For an interesting discussion of embellished bottles see Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, pp. 222-226. The author states that early writers on snuff bottles do not mention embellished bottles and that those illustrated by Lilla Perry have no attributions. He mentions visiting a certain Fukuya Tsuda and his father, Sokan Tsuda (1872-1939) in Kyoto, who told him that they embellished old Chinese snuff bottles. Stevens illustrates an example (pl. 815) which they claimed they embellished, and in subject matter it closely resembles one side of the present lot. However, the photograph is slightly out of focus and it is therefore very difficult to know if, indeed, the workmanship is of the quality of the current example. It is conceivable that the Tsudas copied bottles such as this lot