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Lot Essay
The different colors on multi-colored overlay bottles can vary from two to as many as ten, although between two and five is the norm. The counting of the colors on the present bottle is somewhat confused by the mixture of brown swirled into the green on one beast, bringing the number of colors technically up to six.
Chi dragons were a popular subject for multi-colored overlay glass bottles, with each beast typically being depicted in a different color. The chi dragons on the present bottle are of several varieties, some with horns and some without, some with blunt snouts and one which apparently has the head of a fenghuang. Presumably, the introduction of the fenghuang-headed beast evoked the image of the "dragon and phoenix" design so popular at the Court.
With its imaginative and confident design, this bottle ranks among the finest of the genre. The use of one of the dragons to form the foot of the bottle appears to have been a popular feature for top-quality multi-colored overlays, as seen here and on another bottle from the J & J Collection carved with nine chi dragons sold in these rooms, 29 March 2006, lot 16.
See also several multi-color overlay glass bottles carved with chi dragons in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, nos. 978, 981, 984 and 993.
Chi dragons were a popular subject for multi-colored overlay glass bottles, with each beast typically being depicted in a different color. The chi dragons on the present bottle are of several varieties, some with horns and some without, some with blunt snouts and one which apparently has the head of a fenghuang. Presumably, the introduction of the fenghuang-headed beast evoked the image of the "dragon and phoenix" design so popular at the Court.
With its imaginative and confident design, this bottle ranks among the finest of the genre. The use of one of the dragons to form the foot of the bottle appears to have been a popular feature for top-quality multi-colored overlays, as seen here and on another bottle from the J & J Collection carved with nine chi dragons sold in these rooms, 29 March 2006, lot 16.
See also several multi-color overlay glass bottles carved with chi dragons in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, nos. 978, 981, 984 and 993.