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Lot Essay
Multi-colored single-plane overlay bottles can have from two to nine different colors, although two to five is the norm. By the early Yongzheng period lapidaries producing cameo designs with multi-colored hardstones, including jade, were transferring their skills to the carving of multi-colored glass.
The chi dragon was a popular motif on multi-colored overlay glass bottles, with each beast typically depicted in a different color. Another example, formerly from the Meriem Collection and sold in these rooms, 19 September 2007, lot 695, has dragons that align vertically, reminiscent of fluted bottles from the late Qianlong period. See also, several multi-color overlay glass bottles carved with chi dragons in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, illustrated by Moss, Graham and Tsang, in A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, nos. 978, 981, 984 and 993.
The chi dragon was a popular motif on multi-colored overlay glass bottles, with each beast typically depicted in a different color. Another example, formerly from the Meriem Collection and sold in these rooms, 19 September 2007, lot 695, has dragons that align vertically, reminiscent of fluted bottles from the late Qianlong period. See also, several multi-color overlay glass bottles carved with chi dragons in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, illustrated by Moss, Graham and Tsang, in A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, nos. 978, 981, 984 and 993.