A BLACK OVERLAY ‘SCHOLARS AND ATTENDANTS’ WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLEWhite opaque glass with carved and incised pure black overlay. China, 1760-1840Well carved in rounded relief with a scholar and two attendants standing on rocky ground and inspecting a scroll painting, the reverse with another scholar sitting behind a desk with a large flower pot on it, addressing an attendant, the sides decorated with palm and pine trees springing from daihu rocks. The design in stark contrast to the white ground. The amount and quality of the neatly incised detail work, including but not limited to the faces of the scholars and attendants, can only by judged to its full extent under a strong magnifying glass. It is extremely rare to find a true black overlay glass snuff bottle, as a fine line divides what is a genuine, opaque black, and what is in reality a very dark olive-green or sapphire-blue, for instance. The present lot is a good and early example, and only a handful of others are published. Given the intensity of the black, and the confident carving of this rare and inspiring subject, it is well possible that this bottle was made for the Court.Shape: Compressed pear formHollowing: StandardMouth, neck and lip: Sprawling neck, slanted lip, flat top and wide mouthBase: Oval base with raised, flattened center, surrounded by a black foot rimStopper: Gilt metal stopper with embossed and incised Chrysanthemum flower on a black plateletHeight of the bottle with stopper: 6.7 cm.Width of the mouth: 7 mm.Width of the neck: 14 mm.Condition: Fair condition with one short hairline, extensive wear and nibbling to foot rim, one tiny chip to lip, and several chips to the depiction, the foot possibly trimmedProvenance: From an old Austrian private collection acquired before 1930Literature comparison: The Meriem Collection Important Chinese Snuff Bottles. Christies, New York, September 19th, 2007, lot 672. (for another black overlay bottle of similar size and shape, attributed to the Imperial Palace Workshops, Beijing) FINE CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANN & JOHN HAMILTON. Sotheby’s, New York, March 27th, 2003, lot 244. (for a black overlay glass bottle, dated 1760-1820) FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. Bonhams, Hong Kong, May 26th, 2014, lot 45. (for a black overlay glass bottle, dated 1760-1810)1760-1840年間黑色套料“文人侍者”鼻烟壺品相中等，有一些細紋，明顯磨損，足部有磕碰，瓶唇有缺損，畫面部分有一些細紋，足部有可能切短過 奧地利私人老收藏，1930年前購入，家族傳承