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Lot Essay
It has been noted that the crizzling of the glass, particularly on the interior of the present dish, suggests a Kangxi period dating as glass production at this early stage tends to have an excess amount of alkali in the preparation, which causes the decomposition of the glass,
known as crizzling. Varying and controlling the amount of alkali creates opaque, translucent or transparent glass.
The strong European style in the design of the present dish was probably influenced by the Jesuit missionaries who assisted at the imperial workshops, particularly the Flemish Jesuit, Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688), who was known to be close to the Kangxi Emperor. On closer inspection, the delicate foliage and swirling tendrils show the ragged lines made by diamond-point engraving as opposed to the use of the wheel-cut technique which would have produced a smoother finish. It is perhaps significant that when the papal legate, Carlo Ambrogio Mezzabarba, came to Beijing in 1721, amongst the gifts that he presented to the Kangxi emperor from Pope Clement XI were several pieces of Venetian glass, including those with diamond point engraving - although Venetian glass is recorded as being presented to Chinese emperors by the missionaries as early as the Wanli reign
Diamond-point engraving can also be seen on a pair of clear glass cups which are similarly decorated with birds and grapevine, and dated to the Kangxi period, in The Corning Museum of Glass, and illustrated by C. Brown and D. Rabiner, Clear as Crystal, Red as Flame, China Institute in America, New York,1990, no. 11. The choice of motif on this Kangxi period dish, as on the pair of glass cups, also indicates a European influence since in China the grape design is usually combined with squirrels, rather than the birds. Comparisons may also be drawn to a very similar design – albeit without the birds – woven into the Chinese blue silk damask of a morning robe made for Peter the Great, now in the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg, in Russia before 1696, and thus the silk itself must pre-date the late 1690s.
known as crizzling. Varying and controlling the amount of alkali creates opaque, translucent or transparent glass.
The strong European style in the design of the present dish was probably influenced by the Jesuit missionaries who assisted at the imperial workshops, particularly the Flemish Jesuit, Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688), who was known to be close to the Kangxi Emperor. On closer inspection, the delicate foliage and swirling tendrils show the ragged lines made by diamond-point engraving as opposed to the use of the wheel-cut technique which would have produced a smoother finish. It is perhaps significant that when the papal legate, Carlo Ambrogio Mezzabarba, came to Beijing in 1721, amongst the gifts that he presented to the Kangxi emperor from Pope Clement XI were several pieces of Venetian glass, including those with diamond point engraving - although Venetian glass is recorded as being presented to Chinese emperors by the missionaries as early as the Wanli reign
Diamond-point engraving can also be seen on a pair of clear glass cups which are similarly decorated with birds and grapevine, and dated to the Kangxi period, in The Corning Museum of Glass, and illustrated by C. Brown and D. Rabiner, Clear as Crystal, Red as Flame, China Institute in America, New York,1990, no. 11. The choice of motif on this Kangxi period dish, as on the pair of glass cups, also indicates a European influence since in China the grape design is usually combined with squirrels, rather than the birds. Comparisons may also be drawn to a very similar design – albeit without the birds – woven into the Chinese blue silk damask of a morning robe made for Peter the Great, now in the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg, in Russia before 1696, and thus the silk itself must pre-date the late 1690s.