Glass snuffbox painted on the inside depicting Tan Xinpei-譚鑫培, famous Peking Opera actor, China, 20th century Rectangular in shape with rounded shoulders, the decoration depicts the full-length portrait of actor Tan Xinpei (1847-1917) as Qin Qiong - 秦瓊, Tang Dynasty general, in Qin Qiong Selling His Horses - 秦瓊賣馬. On the reverse, eight lines in script from "Twenty-four Aesthetic Styles of Poetry" by Sikong Tu: Giving spring for a bottle of jade - Enjoying the rain in a thatched cottage - Handsome gentlemen as company - Flanked by tall bamboo trees - White clouds in a clear sky - Hidden birds following each other - Lying by a qin in the green shade of trees - From above a waterfall rushes by. Followed by an apocryphal signature of Ma Shaoxuan followed by a red seal. Height : 6,3 cm Provenance : Hôtel Drouot, Millon-Jutheau sale, 19 November 1987, n° 92. This bottle is the work of an anonymous artist of the early 20th century who has reproduced here an identical portrait of Tan Xinpei painted by the famous painter Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) in the 1900s. Ma Shaoxuan excelled in the art of painting famous people of his time inside flasks. 二十世纪 - 玻璃内画谭鑫培" 秦琼 "戏装像鼻烟壶