Could someone help me a bit with this brown overlay bottle ?

[George]

Can someone decipher this for me ?

[snuffbottlecollector]

George,

I am currently trying to gather more information on this type of bottle; an inside painted one framed in overlay glass. I have written to Wang Guanyu to ask him some questions about this type of bottle but he is currently in Guilin and will reply when he returns. I have added several bottles of this type on my web page but need to work on that some more.

You can thank daughter Susie for a translation:

Autumn colors,
Gui Hai Year.  That translates to 1923 or 1983. I personally would lean toward 1923 on this one. Do you have this bottle?

Bill

[George]

Thank you Susie ! 

No, do not have it in hand yet. I hope to win it at auction.  Going to bid what ever is necessary to win it..

I really like the look of this    Both the painting on both sides and the bottle are really appealing to me.

[George]

Good deal !

Won it, so should be in my hands shortly ! 

[George]

Autumn colors,
Gui Hai Year.  That translates to 1923 or 1983. I personally would lean toward 1923 on this one. Do you have this bottle?

The 1923 date was just confirmed for me by another collector !

Thanks again to you and Susie 

[snuffbottlecollector]

The traditional Chinese calendar is cyclic and repeats every 60 years. One has to rely on other factors to make an "educated guess" as to which 60 year cycle is appropriate for the date.

[Pat - 查尚杰]

I remain puzzled about these type of bottles and the monochrome/glass overlay ones I commented about elsewhere in different posts here,... This bottle George won is particularly nice.  The 1920s - 1940s period became very commercial for inside painted snuff bottles due to slackening demand, so it is possible it is indeed 1923 but could be 1983 given the 'look' of this bottle.  Some of the bottles are extremely well made and justify the prices they command, but I would love to know the real story.  And.... how they are made.. even if this one is 1983 it is still a nice example, I am sure we all agree.   Soon we will not be able to afford this manual labor for the prices we pay for the copies/replicas.  I have seen labour rates more than double in 7 years in China.   Any reations/thoughts? 

[George]

Good morning Pat..

I am a bit confused as to how these are made as well.. Guess I thought this is a overlay type bottle as well. Carved and polished. Although you would not know it carved like the other overlay bottles as there are no apparent carving marks. Everything is either extremely well polished or there is some other process ..

I would also like to know for sure..

I have read that China is loosing a lot of work to Countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia. Wages are up even for illiterate workers in China.

[Clare]

Beautiful bottle George.

Is it painted only on one side ?

[bottles4sure]

Nice find George.

[George]

Thanks ladies..

Your up early Sara...

Top of the morning to you !

Clare,

Yes, it is painted on both sides. When it arrives I will take a couple of pics to share.

[George]

This one arrived today, and am really pleased !

I can now see that yes, this is a carved overlay..

Wish I knew what kind of carving and polishing tools they used..

Seems pretty nicely carved, sanded, and polished.

[snuffbottlecollector]

I'm still not having much success with this type of bottle but it is not surprising that it may take a while. At this point all I know is that it is probably from the Shandong School. It is very difficult to get older Shandong school information even though I believe they were the principle producer bottles made for export from 1920-1950. Pat, it would be great if you could "uncover" someone ... maybe an old dealer in Shandong who has been in business for 40 years.

(George ... would you e-mail me pictures of this bottle with an uncluttered background? I would like to include this one in the collection on www.snuffbottlecollector.com because it does contain dating and some additional writing.)

[George]

Sure thing Bill..

Give me a bit and will try to get pics background free..

I think it is wonderful you find this one interesting enough to add to your site..

Can't help but put a smile on my face.. Much like Pat mentioned in another thread 

[Pat - 查尚杰]

To my great regret.. Shandong is not a place I get to with any frequency at all in my business travels.  I will keep a feeler out and see if I can identify someone who can gives us more info on these types of bottles.  There is one thing I am certain off though, they are still being produced in the same fashion, but the quality and detail is much much lower than the one George purchased here.  I recall having one that is even earlier than George,'s from the late teens, dated and commented, but not signed.  And George ---> not as nice as this one!  This is one of the better ones I have ever seen in this style!