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Bottle ID: 766

IMITATING AQUAMARINE, CARVED WITH FLOWERS

Date: 1750-1820

Height: 65 mm

Bubble-suffused glass, of vivid aquamarine tone, of flattened ovoid form with shoulders sloping to a cylindrical neck, with a wide mouth and with a neatly carved oval footrim, carved in relief with a continuous scene of flowers issuing from convoluted rockwork including orchids, asters, begonias and lingzhi.
Attributed to Beijing

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 391
Lawrence, Clare. The Thewlis Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1990, p. 24, no. 28
Holden, Rachelle, R. Rivers and Mountains Far From the World - The Rachelle R. Holden Collection, 1994, p. 372, no. 169

Provenance:

Bonhams New York, September 9, 2019, lot 256 (part)
The Dr. Philip S. Brachman Collection

During the eighteenth century, glass blocks were transported from Boshan in Shandong Province (known as "Glass City") to glass-making areas such as Beijing, and including the Palace Workshops. The majority of snuff bottles were made from glass which was melted down and then blown into molds, although some were carved from solid blocks of glass. This worked particularly well when glass was made to imitate another material such as aquamarine. The style of carving on this bottle is interesting because it is more akin to bottles from the Suzhou School fashioned in jade or agate. This is the third glass bottle recorded in this "Suzhou style", the other two being in the Muse Collection and the Joseph Baruch Silver Collection (at one time). Whilst the Palace archives mention that jade craftsmen were seconded to the glass workshops, it is not clear what part of glass-making they were involved in. The tools used to carve and polish glass were different to the tools the craftsmen would have used in the jade workshops. However, it is possible that the overlap came with the design of the bottles and it may be that this is the case here, although this bottle is attributed to the workshops of Beijing, outside of the Palace walls.

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