Vintage Banded Agate Snuff Bottle with "Egg Yolk" ShapeThis unusual short and squat snuff bottle was purchased at the famous "Mud" Flea Market in Beijing where dealers lay out their wares on bed sheets over the dirt floor. It was the "egg yok over egg white" design that attracted me to this bottle. The rather unusual short round shape may be intentional, so the snuff bottle carver could take advantage of the interesting bands and different shades of yellow beige brown. The bottle is nicely hollowed. The

The pottery was near the Sumida River

The associate cap is red glass capped in brass with a brass spoon

The bottle is made of milk glass and decorated with bright enamels in pinks and yellow and blue

Soapstone is one of the favorite medium of stone carvers

it may be just as easy to carve an agate bottle because these bottles were very difficult to make

Pretty painted porcelain garden seats from Jingdezhen with bird and flower designs or simple ones glazed in rich flambe glazes from Shiwan

wielding his famous halberd and Liu Bei with a pair of swords is on the left behind Lu Bu

In one bottle

Perhaps the commission dictated that the  items mentioned must be included on the bottle

The other decorative elements are the tiny metal Buddhist peace symbols at the four corners of the cover

It is often associated with wish granting and magic

5 inches diameter and 3