Bottle ID: 00271

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PURPLE, VIVID TRANSLUCENT W/FOUR CHARACTER MARK

Date: 1736-1795

Height: 54 mm

Glass, transparent vivid purple tone, of rounded flattened form, the shoulders tapering to a straight neck and with a wide mouth, the base with a four character Qianlong nianzhi mark in regular script and of the period.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection nos. 410 and 498.
Kleiner, Robert. Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Denis Low, 1999, p. 87, no. 70.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Alexander Brody
Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Joseph Baruch Silver
Y. F. Yang

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 23, 1989 - January 7, 1990
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel, 1987-1988

Published:

Lawrence, Clare. Twenty-Five Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, 1993
Lawrence, Clare. 1993 Chinese Snuff Bottle Engagement Diary, 1992
Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Joseph Baruch Silver, in Conjunction with the Exhibition at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Winter 1987, p. 9, no. 2

One of the 'earliest' colors mentioned in the Imperial Archives is cobalt-purple. Of the seven 'blue' colors in the Qianlong period, this is the only one that is completely purple; the other 'purple' color being described as 'purplish-blue'. In the Qianlong period, almost all inscribed reign marks were made by the wheel-cut method which produced fairly rough looking marks on high quality Imperial pieces. It appears that exceptions were made for highly expensive items of superb quality. These pieces were inscribed by the professional mark-writers of the Ruyiguan. The result was marks that were finely 'written' as opposed to the more free-style marks created by the wheels. It is impossible to say for certain whether this bottle was marked in the Ruyiguan, but the simple elegance and consistent high quality of its manufacture, coupled with the finely-written mark, would lend itself to this conclusion.

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