IMPERIAL, 1720-1800

Part of a group of carnelian bottles made for the Court in the 18th century, the small mask and ring handles suggest a date in the first half of the century. The carnelian material is known to have come from Xinjiang province, which was added to the Chinese empire by a conquest of the Qianlong Emperor in 1759. After this date the material was more frequently used for Imperial style works of art. For a full discussion of this group and an example with mask and ring handles see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 2, Part 2, Quartz, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 433-4, no. 339.