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Bottle ID: 00208
GREEN OLIVE, TRANSPARENT W/CARVED DRAGONS
Date: 1730-1795
Height: 58 mm
Glass, of rounded bulbous form, tapering to a slightly everted lip, of a clear olive-green color, carved in low relief on the front and reverse with a coiling dragon, the base with a neatly carved footrim.
Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.
Similar Examples:
Crane Collection no. 498.
Hui, Humphrey K. F. and Christopher C. H. Sin. An Imperial Qing Tradition - Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Humphrey K. F. Hui and Christopher C. H. Sin, 1994, p. 114, no. 139.
Sotheby's, Hong Kong, October 30, 2000, lot 514, The Guo'an Collection.
Sotheby's, New York, September 14, 2010, lot 14, The Joe Grimberg Collection.
Provenance:
Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Robert Chasin
Exhibited:
Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007
There are four colors of green glass listed in the Palace Archives from the Qianlong period - green, transparent green, bean green and jadeite green. Unfortunately, these words give little information other than a descriptive term. It is possible that the color of the Crane bottle is bean green, however, this color is more generally known as West Lake Green, a somewhat more poetic term. The West Lake is part of the city of Hangzhou and was famous for its olive green color; while the lake exists today, it is sadly no longer this color.
This is a superbly executed glass bottle with the expressive dragon looking outwards as though it is rising upwards in a bubble of green water. The powerful design, on the two main fascias of this bottle, forms a roundel with the dragons' heads in the center of the bottle on both sides.