Dear Adrian,
Pat is right that it doesn't look too old, but I can't be sure, since, in over 47 years of actively studying Chinese snuff bottles, I've NEVER seen one like it. It could be late Guangxu, who knows? Or it could be late Deng Xiaoping...
However, with the measurements being 50mm X 40mm X 30mm high (from the upper surface of the 'board' to the bottom of the 'feet'), it is certainly in the ballpark for a working snuff bottle. And it could have been made by a private kiln as a 'one-off' for a snuff taker who was a Weiqi fanatic, for him to keep on his table as a scholarly object. There is no reason it could not have been a 'working' snuff bottle then.
I assume that was the stopper in B & W I saw on the 'front' of the Weiqi Table SB.
I'd be willing to pay US$400 for it. Do you really think he'd sell it for US$40?
By the way, I have attended classes and formal tea ceremony by the Urasenke Chanoyu/Chado Foundation in Kyoto, Japan; Honolulu, HI; and both Dublin & West Cork, in Ireland. I was planning to build a tea-house on my property at some stage, but having since experienced Chinese Tea Ceremony in Honolulu, and then in Taipei, I may well build a Chinese Tea House rather than a Japanese one.
The Chinese are much more practical and sensible. For one thing, in a Chinese Tea House, both host and guests enter standing up; while one is meant to enter a Japanese Tea House crawling on all fours through a small hatch more like a dog-door (about 70cm high X 80cm wide). Not for me. Luckily, in each case I was able to plead knee problems and walk in. In which case, one takes the left-side shoji screen door, whereas the host used the right-side shoji screen door (the two doors are next to each other, each running on its own track.).
Best,
Joey
Dear Joey,
Your way of buying antiques sounds very agreeable and far nicer than scouring the internet with little success.
I collect Japanese Inro and various lacquered items including a few tea caddies but have not yet been to Japan and had the pleasure of attending a real tea ceremony although it is very high on my bucket list.
The table bottle that isn't a table bottle is 5 x 4 x 3 cm and priced at more than $400 and came from a collector in the USA via his son. I am currently under negotiation although moving the decimal place to the left may take some doing. I am happy to offer the seller a fair price but a fair price is hard to decide on. The painting is not the best and it's age is unknown.
Kind regards,
Adrian.