A LIME-GREEN GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

Robert Hall, 1987.

Robert Kleiner, Boda Yang, and Clarence F. Shangraw, Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Miniature Art from the Collection of George and Mary Bloch, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1994, cat. no. 84.
National Museum of Singapore, Singapore, 1994-1995.

Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 5, Hong Kong, 2002, no. 696.

Tiny insignificant nibbles to the inner lip. Otherwise, good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This distinctive transparent pale lime-green colour seems to have been a Qianlong innovation, although it may have its origins in the colour of a small Yongzheng-marked cup from the Hope Danby Collection (S. Marchant & Son. 1999,no. 1). The colour is also related to a group of bottles carved from solid blocks of glass and discussed under Sale 4, lot 55. The solid-block versions, which come most commonly in either beryl-green or aquamarine-blue, seem to have been inspired by those two semi-precious stones. The likelihood that they were intended to imitate these stones is suggested by the fact that they are carved from blocks like hardstones rather than blown, giving them convincing weight.

The colour in this case, while a trifle more yellow than the solid-block bottles, is of the same general range of colours. These exaggeratedly flat forms seem to have become popular during the mid- to late-Qianlong period, from which time this might be expected to date. Since the imperial solid-block carvings appear to be from the mid-Qing, this may also be ascribed to that period. The glassblower has matched his inner bubble very carefully to the outer form, compromising only at the shoulders close to the neck, where the bubble, to remain natural, must be constricted by the narrow neck. But the lapidary has added is art, as well, carving away the naturally rounded narrow-side edges in order to create a thin, flattened plane less than a millimetre thick from shoulders to foot rim.