AN AGATE AND CRYSTAL SNUFF BOTTLE1750-1860 Of rounded form with a cylindrical neck and a neatly carved oval footrim, very well-hollowed, the stone with bands of agate in brown, gray, white and ochre interspersed with crystalline inclusions; stopper. 2 5/8in (6.6cm) high 1750-1860 瑪瑙水晶鼻煙壺一件 Provenance: Janos Szekeres Collection Sotheby's, June 5, 1987, Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Janos Szekeres, Part II, lot 143 Joan and Ted Dorf Collection, no. 150 There is a group of bottles usually of this shape where the primary material of the bottle is crystal with agate inclusions, rather than the other way around. In this case the irregular banded agate inclusions are dominant and are used to great effect providing a strong contrast to the stark crystal, once again proving that it is hard to better in art that which occurs in nature.