A RARE CARVED RED GLASS BOTTLE

Typical of Imperial glass from the mid-Qianlong period, complete with the favorite Palace subject of chilong (a snub-nosed dragon with bifurcated tail), introduced here is the concept of a plantain-leaf neck band, which became a standard feature of late-Qianlong multiple overlays for the Court.

Plantain (bajiao) leaves mean 'to welcome in' (zhao), in the sense of anticipating something favorable. A red glass bottle with similar band of overlapping pendent plantain leaves, at the neck also attributed to the Beijing Palace Workshops, is illustrated in Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 131, no. 76.