A CHINESE INSIDE-PAINTED 'LOTUS POND' SNUFF BOTTLE. Qing Dynasty, dated 1890, signed Zhou Leyuan (active 1879 – 1893). The flattened body decorated with lotus blossoms and leaves swaying in the breeze below a short inscription, the reverse with a porous scholar's rock, a vase of blossoms and a kettle, together with a green hardstone stopper, 5.2cm H. (2) Provenance: English private collection, acquired in China in the early 20th Century, thence by descent to the present owner. 玻璃内画莲池图纹鼻烟盖壶 一八九零年作 署签：周乐元 款识：「饮秀山房主人清赏」「庚寅首夏」「周乐元作」。 来源：英国私人收藏，20年代早期得于中国，后传承至今。 Hugh Moss has described Zhou Leyuan as 'the single most important artist in the entire field of inside-painted snuff bottles'. He founded the popular Beijing School of painting. Every artist of the first phase of the school owes a debt to him including Ding Erzhong, Ma Shaoxuan, Ye Zhongsan, Zi yizi, Sun Xingwu and Yan Yutian.