Bottle ID: 00664

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GREEN EMERALD, CLEAR, CARVED W/LANDSCAPE SCENE & SAMPAN

Date: 1750-1820

Height: 60 mm

Glass, of flattened rectangular form with rounded shoulders, and a neatly carved footrim, of clear emerald-green tone, carved in low relief with a continuous mountainous landscape of a sampan on a lake overlooked by a pavilion with a bridge crossing the water to further pavilions on the opposite shore, beside massive boulders with overhanging pine and willow trees.

Possibly Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

None published.

Provenance:

Asian Art Studio
The Collection of P. Harvey, Southern California

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

Under magnification, it is apparent that the continuously carved scene on this bottle is carved in relief from a mold blank rather than being predominately mold-blown, with the relief decoration being finished to provide detail, as was more usual. There is evidence of lapidary technique, almost as though the carving was wheel-cut. Peter Lam has suggested that the jade workers working in the glass workshops in the Palace were seconded from Suzhou where the tradition of jade lapidary work was well established, or that they were second generation jade workers trained by the Suzhou jade carvers in the Zaobanchu. Whichever scenario is the correct one, it does provide an indication of the possible lapidary techniques employed in the making of this wonderfully three dimensional bottle. While the bottle does not seem to fit into any particular known school, there is a small group of overlay glass bottles where the continuous carving and detailed work seem to be comparable to this example.

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