A PUDDINGSTONE SNUFF BOTTLE1750-1860 Of ovoid form with shoulders sloping to a cylindrical neck and with a flat oval foot, well-hollowed, the mushroom-colored matrix suffused with striking irregular chips of gray, ochre and brown; stopper. 2 3/8in (6cm) high 1750-1860 抱子石素面鼻煙壺一件 Provenance: Sotheby's New York, March 15, 1984, Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Lot 298, col. pl. XII Joan and Ted Dorf Collection, no. 108 This type of stone is known as 'puddingstone' for obvious reasons. In fact it is a quartz conglomerate consisting of irregular rounded pebbles of quartz embedded in a siliceous matrix. Puddingstone appears to have been imported into China in the Qing dynasty as it is not found in the form of works of art or snuff bottles before this period.