AN ENAMELED WHITE GLASS BOTTLE

GUYUEXUAN MARK IN IRON RED, 1767-1770

Details

AN ENAMELED WHITE GLASS BOTTLE
Guyuexuan mark in iron red, 1767-1770
Of tall, flattened-rectangular form, the enameled opalescent glass painted on one side with peony rising from a garden rock, the reverse with bamboo and lilies, with a cloud collar at the shoulder and key-fret border at the neck, stopper
2 1/8in. (5.4cm.) high

Provenance

Albert Pyke Collection, Los Angeles.
Christie's New York, The Reif Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 18 October 1993, lot 215.

Lot Essay

After the building of the Guyuexuan (see lot 27) the Emperor apparently ordered a series of enameled bottles from various artists and workshops, including the Palace workshops. They were obviously used, probably distributed as gifts, since a feature of most of them is a convincing degree of wear. This is a typical example, probably made by a new enameller at the Court, but possibly commissioned from a private workshop.

For an Imperial-yellow glass bottle enameled experimentally shortly after 1767, see H. White, Snuff Bottles from China: The Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, London, 1992, pl. 61, no. 2.

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