A TRANSLUCENT BLUE GLASS VASE MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

of ganlan form, rising in three gentle curves to incorporate the body swelling from the splayed foot and tapering gracefully before the flared mouth, the glass of a translucent bright blue tone, inscribed on the base with the four-character mark within a double square

Glass vases of this ganlan form are very rare.  The ganlan, or olive-shape, takes it form from the ceramic vases of the Yongzheng period.  This balanced, elegant, slender form is recorded in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 234, fig. 400, no. 15.  The shape is known from blue and white, monochrome and 'famille-rose' wares. 

Compare an opaque blue glass vase of similar form, with Qianlong mark and of the period, in Elegance and Radiance, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 48.  See also a similar opaque yellow vase sold at Christie's London, 19th June 2001, lot 144.