1735-1800

Details

**AN UNUSUAL PALE GOLDEN-YELLOW OVERLAY GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
1735-1800
Of flattened ovoid form, carved through the layer of pale golden-yellow on either side with a stylized mallow flower, the narrow sides with animal-mask and fixed-ring handles, all on a milky, bubble-suffused ground, coral stopper
2 7/16 in. (6 .2 cm.) high

Provenance

Arthur Gadsby (Hong Kong 1978)

Literature

Moss et. al., The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, vol. 2, no. 367

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

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

This bottle is decorated on either side with a stylized mallow, a symbol of loyalty to the Emperor as the head of the mallow follows the path of the sun all day, and the sun is associated with the Emperor. Because of its symbolism, this design was ideal as decoration on bottles presented by the Emperor to his officials, reminding them constantly of their duty of loyalty, hence its popularity at the Imperial glassworks and elsewhere in the Palace workshops.

A number of bottles with this design are known, including several in different colors of glass in the Marian Mayer collection, illustrated by R. Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles II, nos. 86-90 and 93; one illustrated by H. Hui et. al., Hidden Treasures of the Dragon, p. 61, fig. 111; another illustrated by Robert Kleiner, A Miniature Art from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, no. 95; and a white glass example in the collection of Denis Low illustrated by R. Kleiner, Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, p. 101, no. 83.

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