Lot Essay
One or two individual Japanese artists emerged from the anonymous producers of 'Chinese' snuff bottles from the 1860's onwards, mostly for the American market (see lot 103). They worked purely in Japanese style and proudly signed their names. Pre-eminent among them was Katon, who produced a range of wares in ivory and lacquer. Here he combines ivory, lacquer and embellishment in a vase-form snuff bottle which is echoed by three in the J & J Collection, illustrated by H. Moss, V. Graham, K.B. Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, New York, 1993, nos. 303-305.