Snuff bottles from celebrated collection to go under hammer

Snuff bottles were once all the rage in China. Thanks to Bonhams' auction of rare collectors' items, they are set to be in vogue again with the cognoscenti.

During its eagerly anticipated 2010 spring auction, the auction house will offer a unique cache of 141 Chinese snuff bottles worth a total of more than HK$40 million from the celebrated Mary and George Bloch Collection.

Following the public show and auction in Hong Kong on May 28, a second batch of rare snuff bottles from the peerless collection will also be auctioned off later this year.

Auction highlights include a five-centimetre enamelled porcelain moonflask snuff bottle of exquisite craftsmanship from the mid-18th century decorated with a landscape scene. It has an estimated value of HK$1.4 million to HK$2 million. Commissioned by the Qianlong emperor in 1746, the one-off item still retains its original ivory stopper, skilfully carved in the form of the emperor's ritual hat.

Another highly prized imperial enamel-on-copper snuff bottle (HK$1.8 million to HK$3 million) going under the hammer shows a European lady and child in the style of enamel boxes gifted by French delegations to the Imperial Court, examples of which are preserved in Taipei's National Palace Museum.

Also for sale is a fine nephrite pebble-material snuff bottle decorated with the image of a sage in a rocky landscape (HK$1 million to HK$2 million), from the prestigious Zhiting School jade workshop in Suzhou. Yet another item of superb craftsmanship is a glass snuff bottle from the Li Junting School in Yangzhou (1775 to 1820). Its double overlay of translucent white and emerald green overlays has been carved through to the rich pink ground, depicting the stages of silk production.