AN INSCRIBED RUBY-RED OVERLAY GLASS 'BLOSSOMING PRUNUS' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG / JIAQING PERIOD

together with a watercolour illustration by Peter Suart

Collection of Edmund F. Dwyer.
Christie’s London, 12th October 1987, lot 11.

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. 124.
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. 904.

Two tiny chips to the inner lip. One chip to the petal of one of the central flowers, barely visible.
"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 bottle is unique and thus difficult to categorise. Of lovely design, it is superbly executed and the materials are excellent, with colourless glass of crystalline clarity and a delightful pale ruby-red overlay. In common with most examples displaying this quality, the court is a possible source, but there is too little to link it to the imperial glassworks to allow even a tentative attribution. It may have some connection with the mid-Qianlong trend for crystal-like grounds for glass carvings and enamelling, suggesting a possible date, but in the absence of additional evidence it is unwise to grasp at so thin a straw. The materials and quality would all be feasible for the mid- to late Qianlong period.

The prunus is common enough on glass, as evident from other snuff bottles, but the conception and composition here surpass the usual depictions. Combined with verses about the flower, the impression is of a typically Qing literati painting. The line Anxiang fudong yue huanghun 暗香浮動月黃昏 (‘Its secret fragrance floats; the moonlit dusk’) is a description of the prunus originating with the reclusive poet Lin Bu 林逋 (967 – 1028) and repeated endlessly ever since. The other inscriptions are all poetic terms for the prunus: bingji 冰肌 (‘skin of ice)’, yuehen 月痕 (‘Trace of the moonlight’) and yugu 玉骨 (‘bones of jade)’.