A PEACOCK-BLUE AVENTURINE-GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE MARK AND PERIOD OF DAOGUANG

Jade House, Hong Kong, October 2000.
Hugh M. Moss Ltd., Hong Kong, November 2000.

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. 755.

One tiny chip or missing piece of surface aventurine glass. 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."

Two known pieces of aventurine-splashed glass bear credible reign marks after the Jiaqing era: this one, and a vase with a Guangxu mark (Hui and Lam 2000,no. 137). Although the latter might have been made in a private workshop for the court, since the original imperial glassworks at Beijing and the branch at the Yuanming yuan had both ceased production by this time, this bottle is perhaps more likely to have been made at the imperial glassworks.

It is interesting to note the colour of the blue glass, which is of the distinctive peacock-blue that appears to have been popular in the late Qianlong period. It is the colour of Sale 5, lot 128 which has an inscribed equivalent in the Franz Collection; the inscription is the emperor’s 1793 copy of a poem by a Ming painter, so the bottle must have been made some time after 1793. The colour remained popular into the Daoguang period. It is also significant that both this and the Guangxu-marked vase have aventurine-glass of a colour slightly different colour from its eighteenth-century counterpart. The material is more integrated, of a paler tone, and with finer grain to the sparkling inclusions, suggesting that the locally-made material of the second half of the Qing dynasty was different from that which was imported or made under the Jesuits during the Qianlong period.

The form of this bottle represents another interesting feature. The meiping seems to have been far less popular at court during the nineteenth century than it was in the Qianlong period, and this is a rare example datable to the Daoguang reign. It is also intriguing on account of the radically different shape of the interior air bubble, which is quite eccentric.