Dear Jo,
After re-reading this post, I could not for the life of me, remember how I dated that bottle when I held it in my hand in late May. How did I date it then, antique or modern?
I want to thank you and David again for the wonderful time I had in NC. The steak was especially memorable - I love good steak, well done.
And I enjoyed looking through the catalogue you gave me. Oddly, they did not have that impressive one in the ROM in Toronto when the same exhibition was on display - only a much edited version.
Best,
Joey
Dear Jo,
Sorry for this late reply. Not that I disagree that it is probably better to be safe than sorry, but I don't find the color of the SB you originally posted to be out of the realm of possibilities for 19th Century Yangzhou production. The following is a group of four snuff bottles sold for circa $4,714 in May 2010 by Bonham's London. It included a 6.3 cm High example with a color very close to the one you posted.
http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17817/lot/44/ I found a few others that were either slightly more blue or slightly more lavender. The colors bounce all over the place. Another example, I have been researching a wonderful 19th C double overlay Yangzhou SB with the outermost layer in cinnabar red and other than the fact that they are all opaque the reds go from light fire-engine to almost dark brown. These artisans were not trained chemists so the proportions were usually made "over the thumb", the way our grandmothers used to make those delicious meals and desserts.
Best regards,
Tom B.