1740-1800

Details

**AN UNUSUAL GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
1740-1800
Of compressed form with slightly concave lip and recessed, flat oval foot surrounded by a footrim, the beige glass streaked with mahogany brown, the shoulders with mask-and-ring handles, horn stopper with silver collar
2 1/16 in. (5.24 cm.) high

Provenance

Y.F. Yang & Co., Hong Kong, 1978

Literature

JICSBS, Autumn 1989, p. 19, fig. 2
Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle. The J & J Collection, Vol. 2, no. 347
JICSBS, Summer 1998, p. 18, fig. 52

Exhibited

Christie's, New York, 1993
Empress Place Museum, Singapore, 1994
Museum für 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

Following the massive influx of minerals from Xinjiang province after 1759, there was a great demand for the wide range of semi-precious stones mined in the region. However, the material that was large enough for a snuff bottle was always flawed, prompting imitations in glass which could be made to look like flawless stone. The eighteenth-century Court took pleasure in all things novel, which included the concept of teasing the eye by recreating more precious materials in glass. Because of the versatility of glass as a material and the multitude of colors that were easily produced, it was often used to simulate such material as jade, jadeite, colored hardstones, realgar and amber, among others. The markings and color of the present bottle bring to mind agate.

The masks on this bottle are distinctive with their large foreheads, neat fringe of curls and small circular rings. Placed fairly high on the shoulders, they suggest northern production during the early phase of snuff-bottle manufacture in response to Imperial taste.

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