A FINE AND UNUSUAL BLUE OVERLAY GREEN GLASS BOTTLE

PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1750-1820

Details

A FINE AND UNUSUAL BLUE OVERLAY GREEN GLASS BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1750-1820
Of flattened, elongated ovoid form, the rich blue overlay carved with a continuous pattern of two writhing chi dragons, one on each main side of the bottle, all on a blue-tinged emerald-green bubble-suffused ground with some 'snowflakes', stopper
2¾ in. (6.9 cm.) high

Provenance

Hugh M. Moss Ltd. (Hong Kong, 1978)

Literature

Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. 2, no. 376
The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, Poly Art Museum, Beijing, p. 119.

Exhibited

Christie's New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, 1996-1997
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997
Naples Museum of Art, Florida, 2002
Portland Museum of Art, Oregon, 2002
National Museum of History, Taipei, 2002
International Asian Art Fair, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, 2003
Poly Art Museum, Beijing, 2003

Lot Essay

The chilong is possibly the most popular design on early glass overlays, and is one of the most difficult of beasts to date through the evolution of its style.

Compare with a similar bottle with blue-overlay on a snowflake ground, illustrated by Robert Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, pl. 96; and two other mid-Qing examples of sinuous chilong on glass overlay bottles illustrated in Snuff Bottles. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 67 for one with blue overlay on green, and pl. 68 for an example of red on clear glass.

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