SIGNED MA SHAOXUAN, DATED GUIMAO YEAR (1903)

The subject matter on this bottle, depicting a boy attempting to wrest a pigeon out of the jaws of a cat, is highly unusual. The same scene can be found on an inside painted snuff bottle by Ma Shaoxuan, with two confronting cats on the reverse, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29-30 October 1995, lot 581.