A RARE INSCRIBED TEAL GREEN GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE 1780-1850A RARE INSCRIBED TEAL GREEN GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE1780-1850Carved from a solid block of glass, the rectangular-shaped bottle supported on a conforming footrim, with a cylindrical neck and flat lip, the main sides carved with bamboo and a blooming plum tree, and with poetic inscriptions preceding raised seal cartouches, reading zhen wan (precious enjoyment) and ru zhen (precious treasure) respectively, the narrow sides surmounted with a pair of faux mask-and-ring handles. 2 3/8in (6cm) high1780-1850 寶石綠料胎刻竹梅詩文鼻煙壺一件Provenance:Joan and Ted Dorf Collection, no. 298The inscriptions on the bottle read buke yiri wu, and jisheng xiude dao.The first inscription is borrowed from a poem by the Song dynasty poet and calligrapher Su Dongpo, which expressed the author's great fondness for bamboo. The original writing can be translated approximately as:Better having no meat in eating,Than having no bamboos in living.No meat - one becomes thin, one will find;No bamboos - one can never be refined.The second inscription is from the last line of the poem 'Wuyi Shan Zhong' (In the Wuyi Mountains), composed by the Southern Song dynasty poet Xie Fangde. The original line reads jisheng xiude dao meihua. The poem can be translated approximately as:In the past decade I have never dreamed of returning home;I often stand by wild waters or green peaks a solitary soul.Now in this desolate world the storm has lulled;When could I be as brave and strong as the plum blossom?Compare a similar snuff bottle carved from a solid block of green glass, also from the Joan and Ted Dorf Collection, sold at our New York rooms, 19 September 2022, lot 64.