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Bottle ID: 00401
GREEN, PALE APPLE, CARVED W/KUI DRAGONS
Date: 1740-1800
Height: 77 mm
Glass, of flattened elongated pear-shape with a long neck and concave oval foot, of semi-transparent pale apple-green glass which fades from an inner tone of opaque milky-green to a clear color towards the foot, carved on each side in low relief with two confronting kui dragons.
Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.
Similar Examples:
Crane Collection nos. 145, 305, 401 and 402
Kleiner, Robert. Chinese Snuff Bottles - The White Wings Collection, 1997, p. 72, no. 41.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 2002, Vol. 5, Part 3, p. 574, no. 948.
Provenance:
Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
Robert Hall
Paula Hallett
Exhibited:
Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007
Confronting kui dragons of this formalized type are typical of Palace production during the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. They occur on Palace glass, jade, other hard stones - duanstone (produced for the Court probably at Guangzhou) and other materials. This design, together with the color and quality of the glass, all suggest a Palace provenance for this bottle. The color is unusual in its own right; this is the only carved version known where it fades from opaque to transparent from the top to the bottom of the bottle, with the elongated design of the dragons following the form of the bottle on each main fascia. Technically this glass-making process can be described as the 'sandwich' technique where the milky-white color is encased beneath a clear layer at the neck. Despite looking as though it will not stand freely, the small concave base allows the bottle to stand; another sign of its high quality of manufacture.