IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1740-1800

Details

**A FINE AND UNUSUAL RED OVERLAY COLORLESS GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
IMPERIAL, PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1740-1800
Of compressed form with flat lip and recessed convex foot surrounded by a footrim, the transparent ruby-red glass finely carved through to the colorless ground with a continuous scene of two carp swimming in a lotus pond, one on each main side, with lotus concentrated on the narrow sides, the rim and foot with narrow bands of red overlay, green glass stopper
2 5/32 in. (5.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Hugh Moss Ltd.

Exhibited

Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver, 1992.

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

The detailed surface carving and fluid composition of this bottle assigns it to a group of late eighteenth-century Palace bottles, most on colorless glass and in red or blue overlay. See Moss, Graham and Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, no. 930, for an example in blue overlay.

Apart from various specific means for different fish, they are generally considered a symbol of fertility, since they lay many eggs. For the carp motif, see the note to lot 284.

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