Snuff bottle made of pure white jade with a beautiful skin. The jade is so white that it was almost impossible to make some decent photos. The carving of the two mythical animals called 'qilin' is an example of absolute perfection. We believe that this snuff bottle originally served as a fondling piece or toggle and was later turned into a snuff bottle. Our assumption is based on the fact that a very small part of the head of the largest qilin has been ground away to accommodate the stopper. The quality of the carving of the two qilins, swirling clouds and a lingzhi fungus is typical for the late Ming (1368 - 1644) to the early Qing (1644 - 1912) period. The hollowing out of the toggle was however done at a later date. This little gem was acquired from an Oriental Art shop called Ganz in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1978. Size without stopper: Length 4.4 cm. Width 3.8 cm. Depth 2.2 cm. Weight 47.4 grams.