PROBABLY IMPERIAL GLASSWORKS, BEIJING, 1740-1800

This bottle belongs to a well-known group of sandwiched pink glass bottles in the form of lotus flowers, probably made at the Court for distribution as gifts. Most of the bottles from this group tend to be of flattened, ovoid form, and the elegant meiping form of the present bottle appears to be very rare. For other sandwiched pink glass bottles of this type, but of flattened, ovoid form, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 5, Part 2, Glass, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 324-26, no. 818; Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, Vol. II, New York, 1993, p. 597, no. 358; and the example from the Hildegard Schonfeld Collection sold at Christie's New York, 21 March 2013, lot 1097.