Glass snuffbox, painted inside with sages, Ye Zhongsan, 葉仲三, dated 1924 Of rectangular form with rounded shoulders, painted inside in polychrome and black ink of the seven sages of the bamboo forest going about their business against a lake landscape background. It bears the inscription: 甲子 夏 月 葉仲三作 - "Executed by Ye Zhongsan one summer month of the jiazi year". Green jadeite stopper. Height: 6.2 cm These seven Taoists, famous thinkers, writers, poets and musicians, lived during the Three Kingdoms period. Tradition has it that they gathered in a "bamboo grove" at Xi Kang's mansion and engaged in "pure talk", drinking, smoking and celebrating the three arts: poetry, calligraphy and music.