A THREE-COLOUR OVERLAY WHITE GLASS 'CHILONG' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

C.K. Liang, Hong Kong, 1980.
Collection of Gerd Lester, 1986.

Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, British Museum, London, 1995, cat. no. 160.
Chinese Snuff Bottles in the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1997.

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. 984.

There are natural flaw lines and air bubbles, some of which are open at the surface. The snuff bottle is otherwise in very 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."

Overlay carvings demonstrating the highest quality were invariably produced as individual works of art, there being practically no repetition of specific compositions, although subjects, of course, are frequently repeated. There is perhaps no more common subject on what is assumed to be imperial snuff bottles than the ubiquitous chi dragon, and while many chi-dragon bottles feature in the Bloch Collection, no composition is ever repeated.

The streaking of both tints of green here suggests a possible link with the other streaked glass bottles of Sale 2, lot 146; Sale 5, lot 97; and Sale 6, lot 245, for instance, and also with lot 158 in this sale, which represents a group attributed to Yangzhou. Once streaked glass in overlays became not merely acceptable but fashionable, the concept could be adopted with ease by any workshop, for the technique involved is extremely simple. If streaking appeared on imperial bottles of the Qianlong period, private workshops would soon have learned about it and, equally quickly, have emulated it.

The subject matter here, however, indicates a courtly product, as endorsed by the yellow overlay, which is of the range of golden-yellow found on more readily recognizable imperial products of the Qianlong period and thereafter, Sale 8, lot 1081, and lot 147 in the present auction.

There are indications, however, that this may be from the mid-Qing period, perhaps the latter part of the Qianlong, but possibly also a little later. The ground plane undulates slightly and the matching of the foot rim shape to the overlay colour is compromised, exhibiting bleeding into the foot and uneven lines both inside and out, where the green meets the white ground—although the crisp cutting of the foot rim itself is excellent.

An intriguing hint of the production process is provided by the dark green tip of one flame-like extrusion from the body of the dragon nearest the foot rim. The green for the foot rim was obviously spread further up the body of the bottle than was necessary for the rim. Since it cannot have been part of the original design to have so tiny a tip at the end of an unimportant detail in a contrasting colour, we may assume that the glassmaker, when adding his three overlay colours, simply covered the entire area indiscriminately, leaving it to the carver to cut away any excess.