196 - AN INSIDE PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE LI RUNQUAN, DATED 1900

AN INSIDE PAINTED GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE LI RUNQUAN, DATED 1900 To Be Sold Without Reserve Possibly another name for Li Shouchang, of flattened shouldered rectangular form, painted with a scholar and attendant on a garden terrace to one side, beneath two-characters, ( Money Rain), the other side with a 雨钱 Katydid on a rocky outcrop, with an eleven-character inscription and one indistinct red seal, which reads: In the 岁在 Gengzi year 庚子 in midsummer, 仲夏 at the capital, 都门 Li Runquan 李润泉 all raised on a flattened oval foot, convex base Height: 6.4cm The theme is based on an old story by Pu Songling in the book Liaozhai zhiyi While studying in his study, a scholar from Binzhou made the acquaintance of an old man who claimed to be a fox immortal. The two bonded over literature and found they had many things in common. However, greed took hold of the scholar, and he begged the old man to use his magic to bring him wealth. Unable to refuse him, the old man cast a spell, and money came pouring down like a rainstorm until it filled the whole room. But when the scholar, beside himself with joy, reached out to grab the money, it vanished, leaving only the few coins he had started with. The old man angrily rebuked him for caring only about money and losing his literary integrity Ω This Lot was imported from outside of the UK, under the Temporary Admission regime 5% import VAT will be charged on the ‘hammer” and 20% VAT will be charged on the ‘buyer’s premium