Bottle ID: 00294

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BLUE OPAQUE W/TURQUOISE OVERLAY, DRAGONS

Date: 1750-1795

Height: 72 mm

 

Glass, of slender elongated flattened form with sloping shoulders, the sides tapering to a narrow oval foot, overlaid in opaque dark green on an opaque blue ground and carved on each side with a pair of confronting, formalized dragons, a shou medallion between them, the side carved with a comma scroll and acanthus leaves joining the legs of the dragons, and with a dark green footrim.
Imperial, attributed to Palace Workshops, Beijing.
 

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection nos. 485 and 658.
Snuff Bottles - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Vol. 47, Beijing, 2003, p. 42, no. 60.

Provenance:

Robert Hall

 

Exhibited:
 

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

 

 

This is one of a rare group of bottles made from this dramatic combination of colors, of which the Crane Collection houses two examples (see also Crane No. 485).  Although both examples show a green overlay on a blue ground, examples exist where the two colors are reversed with an opaque blue overlay on an opaque green ground.  This example, with its unusual, rather sensual form, displays many of the characteristics of the finest work which emanated from the glass workshops situated in the Imperial Palace in Beijing during the Qianlong period.   As with other examples that are carved with a single raised boss between two dragons, it is tempting to consider the boss as symbolizing the dragon's pearl of wisdom.

 

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