PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION 
AN ENAMELLED TRANSPARENT DEEP BLUE GLASS BOTTLE

Details
AN ENAMELLED TRANSPARENT DEEP BLUE GLASS BOTTLE
GUYUEXUAN IRON-RED MARK ON THE BASE AND CYCLICAL DATE GENGYIN YEAR IN A LONG INSCRIPTION ON ONE SIDE, PROBABLY CORRESPONDING TO 1770, OR POSSIBLY 1830

Of flattened rounded shape, naturalistically painted with lotus rising from a pond on one side and a six-line inscription in iron-red on the other, minute nibbles--2 1/8in. (5.3cm.) high, stopper
Provenance
Mrs. Galia Baylin, Hong Kong
Sotheby, New York, October 3, 1980, lot 87
Further details
See illustration of two views

Lot Essay

The poetic inscription can be translated as
"The wind brings fragrant breath
As distant rain passes
Azure tinted light drifts by"
The seal alongside reads gu yue

A similar bottle was sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, June 1, 1977, lot 3, from the collection of E. Lucille Parker. For another bottle which bears comparison see Sotheby's, New York, December 18, 1980, lot 5. This example bears an inscription dated to 1767 on one side and a famille rose landscape scene on the other. The glass is translucent bluish-green

For an opaque white glass bottle, painted with a molded lotus on each side, bearing a Guyuexuan mark and obviously related to this bottle, see Sotheby's, London, Important Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Eric Young, Part II, 13 October 1987, lot 65

For two dark blue glass examples with Guyuexuan marks and painted with famille rose flowers see Hugh Moss, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of the Rt. Hon. The Marquess of Exeter, K. C. M. G., London, 1974, pp. 102-103, E.12, and Christie's, London, The Ko Family Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part III, June 18, 1973, lot 95

For a clear glass example, now in the Humphrey K. F. Hui collection, see Humphrey K. F. Hui and Christopher C. H. Sin, An Important Qing Tradition, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 142, no. 175

Compare, also, an opaque white glass bottle by Wu Yuchuan, attributed to the Beijing Palace workshops (1760-1799), illustrated by Hugh M. Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 336-338, no. 196; and another blue glass example, Ibid., p. 341, no. 199, with a Guyuexuan mark