清十八 / 十九世紀 寳石紅雪白料鼻煙壺

Eric Young
倫敦蘇富比1987年10月13日，編號37

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷5，香港，2002年，編號761

Suffused with air bubbles, many burst at the surface. Minor surface wear from use.
"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 unquestionably carved from a solid block, yet it contains a mass of elongated air bubbles, most prominently in the red layer but also in the snowstorm ground. Elongated bubbles are one sign of a blown vessel, but they are not a reliable indicator. Evidence that they are not the result of the blowing process here lies in the fact that they are orientated in different directions in the two colours of glass, those in the red all running diagonally and parallel to one another. Had the bottle been blown, they would all emanate from the energy of the blow iron and fan outwards. When pouring a block of glass, it is possible to stretch the air bubbles simply by stretching the still-malleable glass into a particular shape (a rectangle, for instance) or by stretching a layer of one colour across the surface of another in order to create a thin, contrasting plane. This seems to have been the case here, where the red overlay was obviously stretched onto the colourless ground, leaving a series of diagonally placed elongated air bubbles.

Other indications identify it as having been carved from a solid block. It is of a typically lapidary, rounded-rectangular form (although the same form could, of course, be achieved by blowing into a mould), and the deep foot and hollowed-out interior are obviously the work of the lapidary. This is all confirmed by the bottom of the interior hollowing, where obvious traces of the original annular drilling to remove the first columns of glass at the beginning of the process can be clearly seen. There would be no need for this work had the bottle been blown, since there would already be an air bubble inside. The lapidary might wish to polish it, or even edit the shape, but he would not need to employ an annular drill for either process. A final indication lies in the placing of the layer of red overlay. It would be possible to blow a bottle to leave a red overlay on one side only, but most unlikely that it would have ended up with the red cutting in a straight line across the lip of the bottle.