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Bottle ID: 00256
RED RUBY, CARVED IN ELEPHANT FORM
Date: 1750-1820
Height: 68 mm
Glass, of rounded bulbous form, of deep ruby-red color, realistically carved in the form of an elephant with its head turned to the left, its howdah forming the neck of the bottle, below which hangs four large ruyi symbols above the delicately tasseled garment, its feet forming the foot.
Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.
Similar Examples:
Crane Collection nos. 169 and 220.
Crane Collection nos. 210 and 326
Hidden Treasures of the Dragon - Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collections of Humphrey K. F. Hui, Margaret Polak, and Christopher C. H. Sin, 1991, p. 31, no. 49.
Provenance:
Robert Hall
Exhibited:
Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007
Elephant form glass bottles are usually seen in opaque yellow, being produced as a staple of the Palace Workshops towards the end of the eighteenth century or early into the nineteenth century. In form, they tended to be larger and thicker than the average glass bottle particularly those produced within the Palace, often resulting in an awkward look which the stiff carving did little to dissipate. The Crane example, however, in ruby-red may be an early counterpart and certainly the softer shape and more fluid carving would support this idea. Elephant form bottles also exist in enameled porcelain, though much smaller in size and in a reclining form, and can be dated from the late Qianlong period onwards. Elephants were very popular within the Palace during the eighteenth century and this is reflected in decorative motifs and forms which were repeated frequently on bronzes, jades and porcelain emanating from the Imperial workshops.