The lapidary work on this bottle is extremely fine, however, the classic use of extensive swirling serrated rockwork, common to most Suzhou work, seems to have been abandoned on this example, with the exception of a few minor areas. It is interesting to compare the scene on this bottle with that on a fine rhinoceros horn libation cup sold in these rooms, November 27, 1991, lot 8, which depicted similar figures standing before a rockface while holding a brush and an inkstone below a poem referring to 'cleaning the moss of the rock in order to write a poem'