A BLUE-OVERLAY CLEAR GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE

IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1760-1820

Details

A BLUE-OVERLAY CLEAR GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1760-1820
The bottle is carved through the bright-blue overlay to the slightly cloudy ground, which shades to white and slightly opalescent at the neck, on one side with a phoenix perched on a rock between a flowering branch and stalks of bamboo. The other side is decorated with a hawk perched on a prunus branch.
3 3/8 in. (8.7 cm.) high, glass stopper

Provenance

Sara Jo and Arthur Kobacker Collection.
Robert Hall, London, 2010.
Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong, 2011.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 5174.

Lot Essay

The manner in which the slightly cloudy ground of the body of this bottle deepens to an opalescent white tone on the neck is very unusual. The refined carving style of the blue overlay reveals the work of the Palace workshops. The combination of the phoenix and the hawk is unusual; the phoenix is more often paired with the dragon, and the hawk with a bear. The phoenix, fenghuang, was an explicit emblem of the emperor and empress respectively and the fenghuang gazing at the sun (Danfeng chaoyang), symbolizes the opportunity to prove ones talents. The hawk (ying) represents greatness in the individual, and combined with a pine tree, implies the wish that such a great man will live a long life.

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