Bottle ID: 00634

< Previous page

PURPLE BLUE, FACETED W/RAISED PANELS

Date: 1710-1750

Height: 37 mm

Glass, dark purplish-blue, of bulbous octagonal faceted form, carved with raised multi-faceted panels on front and reverse, the straight neck with a wide mouth.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

Sotheby's, New York, March 23, 2004, lot 205, Collection of Robert and Molly Hsieh.
Christie's, New York, March 21, 2002, lot 6, Blanche B. Exstein Collection.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Dynasty Arts, California, 2004

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

From the earliest days of the glass workshops in the Palace, objects including snuff bottles were made in an ever-increasing variety of colors.  Blue, in various shades, is included in the lists from the Archives of the workshops of the Zaobanchu in Yangxin Hall from the reigns of Kangxi through Xuantong.  Recorded in the Archives from as early as the Kangxi period are listed two sets of sky-blue cups produced by artisans recruited from Guangdong.  A number of objects remain in the Palace Museum Collection in transparent blue glass, including one faceted blue glass vase.  The output during this period for monochrome pieces was expansive as workers were instructed to develop both the form and color of glass pieces.

Purplish-blue is listed as one of the specific colors used during the Qianlong period in the Archives, along with other shades such as deep blue, cobalt-blue, opaque blue and sky blue.

The small size of this bottle with its faceted form and intense color all suggest that it is an early example from the Palace Workshops.  Just how early is a matter of speculation as this bottle could have been produced even up to the middle of the Qianlong period.  The lack of crizzling in this example is odd, given the experimental nature of the early glassworks, and the proportionately high number of early eighteenth century blue glass bottles that exhibit crizzling.  However, not all of the Palace output succumbed to this phenomenon and perhaps this delightful example became one of the successful fruits of the Workshops labor.

< Back to full list