A RED OVERLAY OPAQUE WHITE GLASS BOTTLE

1750-1830, YANGZHOU SEAL SCHOOL

Details

A RED OVERLAY OPAQUE WHITE GLASS BOTTLE
1750-1830, Yangzhou Seal School
Of flattened rounded shape, carved through the deep-red overlay in a continuous scene with a pine tree rising from rockwork amidst frothy breaking waves, the pine branches suspending a ribboned long-life symbol and a ribboned coin or bi-disc, two bats in flight nearby, stopper
2in. (5cm.) high

Provenance

Alice B. McReynolds Collection, New York
Sotheby's, New York, 31 October 1984, lot 55
Robert Kleiner, London, 1992

Literature

Rachelle R. Holden, Rivers and Mountains Far From the World, Hong Kong, 1994, pp. 234-235, no. 101

Lot Essay

This bottle is replete with symbolic meaning. The pine tree is emblematic of longevity, which is further reinforced by three rebuses: The first, a bat, fu, and coin, qian, which can read fu zai yanqian (May happiness befall you soon); the second is the swastika, wan, and sash, shoudai, equivalent to wanshou (May you live ten thousand years); and the third bats, fu, and waves, suggesting the sea, hai, mean shoushan fuhai (May your life be as immortal as that of the Southern Mountain, and your happiness be as vast as the Eastern Sea).

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