Bottle ID: 00092

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OLIVE, OPAQUE DARK GREEN, IMITATING JASPER

Date: 1740-1800

Height: 71 mm

Glass, of tapering cylindrical form, the rounded shoulders ascending to a neck with everted lip, of swirly dark olive-green, in imitation of jasper, carved on the shoulders with mock mask and ring handles and with a neatly carved footrim.

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

Hall, Robert.  Chinese Snuff Bottles IV, p. 88, no. 87.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
A Private Collection
Sotheby's, New York, November, 22, 1988, lot 237

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

The Chinese had a remarkable propensity for imitating other materials usually with great success.  In this case, the opaque dark green glass is given a more pliable look by both the darker swirls in the glass, resembling the actual stone of jasper, and the soft polish on the surface.  There is no doubt that the intention of the glass maker wa s to produce the most elegant imitation of jasper that could be made down to the slender cylindrical form and the finely carved mock mask and ring handles.

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