Amber snuffbox, China, 1750-1850, painted inside and signed Ye Zhongsan, Apricot Studio, dated 1934 The rounded translucent amber bottle is carved with a Buddhist lion mask holding a ring in its mouth on each shoulder and rests on an oval foot. It is painted on the inside of one side with a child lying on the trunk of a tree and leaning over a pond trying to catch his hat floating on the water. On the reverse, the scene shows a man trying to get a horse pulling a fox across a ford surmounted by the inscription: 作 葉仲三 清和 甲戌 - "Executed by Ye Zhongsan in the fourth month (qīng hé - month of clarity and harmony) of the year Jiaxu (1934)". Silver-plated metal stopper topped with a turquoise pearl. Height: 5.5 cm Provenance : Millon-Jutheau sale, Hôtel Drouot, November 3, 1983, lot no. 70 (illustrated).