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Lot Essay
Yellow was generally reserved for Imperial use, although a variety of different yellow tones were produced at the Imperial glassworks throughout the dynasty ranging from this relatively pale color to a much richer, egg-yolk color. See a very similar bottle, but with mask-and-ring handles on the narrow sides, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, p. 66, no. 58.
The bottle is also very similar in form to a group of bottles bearing Wanya Xuan (Studio of Refined Amusement) marks. See yellow Wanya Xuan-marked examples illustrated in JICSBS, June 1977, p. 9, no. 18; M. Swayze Mayer, Glass Snuff Bottles of China at Steuben Glass, no. 61; and Sotheby's London, 11 October 1974, lot 24. A blue glass bottle of the same form but with a slightly taller neck, although unmarked, is illustrated in Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles II, p. 92, no. 72.
The bottle is also very similar in form to a group of bottles bearing Wanya Xuan (Studio of Refined Amusement) marks. See yellow Wanya Xuan-marked examples illustrated in JICSBS, June 1977, p. 9, no. 18; M. Swayze Mayer, Glass Snuff Bottles of China at Steuben Glass, no. 61; and Sotheby's London, 11 October 1974, lot 24. A blue glass bottle of the same form but with a slightly taller neck, although unmarked, is illustrated in Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles II, p. 92, no. 72.