This bottle, like lot 876, belongs to a large group of snuff bottles characterised by their uniform, elongated, precisely cylindrical form. Their widely flared, compressed necks sometimes extend to the same diameter as the cylinder, as is almost the case on the present lot. This is one of the popular forms for blue and white snuff bottles of the late 18th and first half of the 19th century. Another bottle of very similar form, but decorated with dragon and tiger designs, is illustrated by Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles II, no. 9.

The painting is not only of a unique subject for the group, but is also very well executed. The rare subject is probably due to the private commission implied by the base mark. Studio names for members of the influential elite might cover a wide range of possibilities. A shanfang implies a country retreat in the mountains or at least in the foothills of the mountains. Here it suggests a retreat high in the mountains, since jingxue is the term used for bright sunlight on snow-covered ground. The studio belonged to the Qing literatus Li Enjie from Luozhou, probably in Shandong province, whose zi was Chunpu. One other, unpublished famille rose porcelain bottle also bears the same studio mark. Decorated with a tiger in landscape, it is in the Barron Collection.