Bottle ID: 00268

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REALGAR, IMITATION, EIGHT FAN-TAILED CARP IN AQUATIC SCENE

Date: 1740-1800

Height: 64 mm

Glass, of flattened ovoid form with rounded shoulders, tapering to a neatly carved footrim, of swirling red, yellow, orange and brown tones, in imitation of realgar, carved continuously in low relief with eight fan-tailed carp swimming amongst aquatic weeds and tendrils.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 927.
Christie's, New York, March 21, 2002, lot 22, The Blanche B. Exstein Collection.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Alexander Brody
Clare Lawrence Ltd.
The Joseph Baruch Silver Collection
Sotheby's, New York, July 1, 1985, lot 154

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

Published:

Lawrence, Clare. The Alexander Brody Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1995, p. 83, no. 131

During the months when it was hot, from summer onwards, the Qianlong Emperor would escape from the Forbidden City and head north to Mulan on an extended hunting trip - a favored pastime of the wealthy Manchus. This did not happen every year, depending on the political climate of the time, but when it did, the Emperor would take bestowal gifts with him. For example, in 1755 he ordered three thousand glass pieces, of which five hundred were snuff bottles, to be made in the Palace Workshops to give away as gifts while he was residing at the northern Palace of Chengdu.

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