Bottle ID: 00269

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RED RUBY, SLENDER BALUSTER FORM W/MARK ON SIDE

Date: 1730-1770

Height: 70 mm

Glass, of transparent ruby-red tone, of slender flattened elongated baluster form, with flattened sides and base; one side incised with a three character hallmark, Wanya xuan, "Studio of Refined Amusement".

Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 513.
Low, Denis S. K.  More Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, 2002, p. 97, no. 86.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Alexander Brody

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

Very little is known about the group of glass bottles bearing this mark, which always appear in Seal script, although in two forms - Wanya xuan (hall) and more rarely Wanya zhai (pavilion).  There are no other glass wares recorded with this mark.  Approximately fifteen authentic bottles are recorded in published private collections, although not all are given with full details.  In one case, for example, the glass bottle looks to be of the same form as most of the group, however, the mark is simply recorded as a 'three character mark'.  It appears, that with some slight shape variation, all of the 'elongated' shaped bottles have their marks on the flattened sides towards the base.  The three recorded bottles with marks on their bases are of a more rounded or ovoid form (further discussed under Crane no. 513).

The colors recorded are as follows: opaque yellow, ruby-red, gold-swirly, opaque blue, pink-white, opaque brown, opaque turquoise, and olive-green swirly.  An examination of the colors, particularly the yellow and ruby-red examples, together with a comparison with other glass bottles of similar colors, leans toward an eighteenth century Imperial attribution for these bottles.  This can be further substantiated by the wheel-cut mark which was characteristic of eighteenth and early nineteenth century Palace production.  One example in the J & J Collection has additional engraved decoration by a recorded scholar who died in 1795, thereby dating that example to the Qianlong period.  The ruby-red examples such as this one could be as early as Yongzheng.

In some cases, as in the Crane example, the mark was filled with gold pigment at some point; unfortunately the same is not true of the entire group suggesting that the marks were filled at a later date or that it was not important that they all contained gold pigment.

This leaves very little of solid fact, other than a set of characteristics which incline towards an eighteenth century date and an Imperial attribution. However, the elegance of the Crane bottle speaks for itself and should be enjoyed for what it is - one of the finest bottles of a highly elite group.

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