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Bottle ID: 00105
RED (WATERMELON), CARVED W/DRAGON & PHOENIX
Date: 1730-1795
Height: 54 mm
Glass, of flattened rounded form, of vibrant watermelon-red color, carved in low relief on front and reverse forming a raised roundel with a coiled archaistic dragon enveloping a phoenix below him; their heads touching, the dragon's foot and the phoenix's wing forming the base on each side.
Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.
Similar Examples:
Crane Collection no. 208.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 2002, Vol. 5, Part 2, pp. 336-337, no. 823.
Provenance:
Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Christie's New York, Autumn 1990
Exhibited:
Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007
The Archives, from the Collection of the First National Historical Archive of China, show that by the beginning of the Qianlong period different tones of red were already being used in the manufacture of snuff bottles and other glass objects. The Archives list the available red colors as: red, bright red, clear red, pink and golden red. It is a dangerous game, once the translated Archives are at our disposal, to designate certain color tones to particular bottles, however in this case, it is possible to tentatively attribute the color of 'bright red' to this bottle by process of elimination. It is obviously not 'pink' or 'golden red'. One might assume that 'red' refers to ruby-red, leaving only 'bright red' as the most credible option.
This bottle is one of the most exceptional red glass bottles in any collection, whether private or in a museum. Its color is radiant, the carving is highly skillful but it is in the masterful design that this bottle excels. The dragon is a popular subject on bottles, and even the combination of the dragon and phoenix, symbolic of the emperor and empress, is not unusual. Yet the dragon on each side of this bottle is resplendent, both strong and delicate as it curves around in seeming protection of the phoenix. The powerful Yin and Yang elements unite to produce a work of art that is more than worthy of its Imperial attribution.