Lot Essay
The eighty characters, forty to each side, can be loosely translated as follows:
The trees shed their leaves on a shore with a low sky,
Snow covers the barren reedy banks,
The cold waves form a wide expanse,
The dim fires of a few stars shine
By moonlight a fisherman sings to the sound of a flute
When he wakes he opens the cabin window
Chang'er (the goddess of the moon) meets the Emperor's son
Whenever they meet, the clouds screen them
Filled with autumn time
The vast expanse of the flat water
of Dongtian lake (Hunan Province) is like Heaven and earth
The essence of the flat and round solitary moon,
is like that of a polished mirror lifted from its box
Pearls drop on a plate, neverending,
A pair of white birds fly in a band of mist
The hills are shaped like green snails
The particular transparent lime-green color of the glass in this example is refered to as Xi Hu shui, West Lake water, in reference to the West Lake of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. The bottle appears to be a unique example of its kind. Although Palace workshop bottles with octagonal faceting are known in a variety of colors, some with Qianlong marks, no published example appears to bear the exquisite minute calligraphy of this bottle. Most glass examples appear to have quarter faceted main sides. In shape, though, not decoration, this example can probably best be compared to a famille rose enameled opaque white glass example illustrated by Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 312-314, no. 185; and also illustrated by Hugh Moss in By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pl.36. That example too bears a Qianlong nianzhi mark in regular script
The majority of faceted glass bottles appear to be of opaque glass, and are predominantly yellow, and relatively abundant. See Robert W.L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles, A Miniature Art from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1994, p.121, no. 67; and a Qianlong-marked example The Au Hang Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, pp. 16-17, no. 1
Most of the transparent faceted glass bottles are predominantly ruby-red in color and occasionaly blue. For examples see, Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, p. 210, nos. 261-263; Sotheby's Honolulu, Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens, Part I, November 7, 1981, lot 2; and Robert W.L. Kleiner, Ibid., p. 124, no. 69. However, a small number of transparent glass bottles of this attractive and unusual lime-green color are known. See Alexander Brody, Old Wine Into Old Bottles, A Collector's Commonplace Book, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 52-53 and 150-151, no. 52, for an unmarked bottle; and Sotheby's Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles, December 2, 1985, lot 159 for a Qianlong-marked example
For a white jade bottle of octagonal shape with gently domed sides attributed to the Beijing Palace Workshops, see Sotheby's, New York, Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens, Part III, June 25, 1982, lot 147
The trees shed their leaves on a shore with a low sky,
Snow covers the barren reedy banks,
The cold waves form a wide expanse,
The dim fires of a few stars shine
By moonlight a fisherman sings to the sound of a flute
When he wakes he opens the cabin window
Chang'er (the goddess of the moon) meets the Emperor's son
Whenever they meet, the clouds screen them
Filled with autumn time
The vast expanse of the flat water
of Dongtian lake (Hunan Province) is like Heaven and earth
The essence of the flat and round solitary moon,
is like that of a polished mirror lifted from its box
Pearls drop on a plate, neverending,
A pair of white birds fly in a band of mist
The hills are shaped like green snails
The particular transparent lime-green color of the glass in this example is refered to as Xi Hu shui, West Lake water, in reference to the West Lake of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. The bottle appears to be a unique example of its kind. Although Palace workshop bottles with octagonal faceting are known in a variety of colors, some with Qianlong marks, no published example appears to bear the exquisite minute calligraphy of this bottle. Most glass examples appear to have quarter faceted main sides. In shape, though, not decoration, this example can probably best be compared to a famille rose enameled opaque white glass example illustrated by Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 312-314, no. 185; and also illustrated by Hugh Moss in By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pl.36. That example too bears a Qianlong nianzhi mark in regular script
The majority of faceted glass bottles appear to be of opaque glass, and are predominantly yellow, and relatively abundant. See Robert W.L. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles, A Miniature Art from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1994, p.121, no. 67; and a Qianlong-marked example The Au Hang Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, pp. 16-17, no. 1
Most of the transparent faceted glass bottles are predominantly ruby-red in color and occasionaly blue. For examples see, Snuff Bottles in the Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, p. 210, nos. 261-263; Sotheby's Honolulu, Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens, Part I, November 7, 1981, lot 2; and Robert W.L. Kleiner, Ibid., p. 124, no. 69. However, a small number of transparent glass bottles of this attractive and unusual lime-green color are known. See Alexander Brody, Old Wine Into Old Bottles, A Collector's Commonplace Book, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 52-53 and 150-151, no. 52, for an unmarked bottle; and Sotheby's Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles, December 2, 1985, lot 159 for a Qianlong-marked example
For a white jade bottle of octagonal shape with gently domed sides attributed to the Beijing Palace Workshops, see Sotheby's, New York, Fine and Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Bob C. Stevens, Part III, June 25, 1982, lot 147