Bottle ID: 758

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EMERALD GREEN BITTER MELON

Date: 1850-1900

Height: 63 mm

Glass, of vibrant emerald green tone with cloudy milk-white inclusions, molded and carved in the form of a bitter melon, with irregular convex nodules resembling the fruit's natural rind.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 354 (jade)
Crane Collection no. 497 (carnelian)
Sotheby's New York, April 16, 1985, lot 100, Collection of Alice B. McReynolds, part II

Provenance:

A Bay Area Private Collection, CA.

This is an unusual example of a popular form being blown in glass, rather than using a material such as a hard stone. When depicted in jade, the form of the bottle usually is carved in relief with leaves and tendrils and the occasional symbolic bug crawling across the fruit. Being fashioned in glass however, does not lend itself to relief work as the bottle's extremities  could be so easily damaged. Bitter melon has been used as a fortifying vegetable in soup for centuries, although it is never eaten over Chinese New Year as it is said that the person will be in for an unlucky or "bitter" year ahead.

 

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