Footnotes

• Treasury 5, no. 708
  
  攪色玻璃鼻煙壺
  
  A 'realgar-glass' snuff bottle
  
  Opaque, variegated scarlet, orange, yellow, green, mahogany-brown, and dark brown glass (known as 'realgar-glass'); with a flat lip and flat foot
  1720-1830
  Height: 6 cm
  Mouth/lip: 0.98/1.73 cm
  Stopper: jadeite, hollowed and artificially coloured from the inside; gilt- bronze collar
  
  Condition: bubbles polished through at surface part of original process; miniscule nibbles to inner lip
  
  Provenance:
  Gerd Lester (1986)
  
  Published:
  Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, no.81
  Treasury 5, no. 708
  
  Exhibited:
  Hong Kong Museum of Art, March-June 1994
  National Museum, Singapore, November 1994-February 1995
  
  This example combines some surface splashes of the customary realgar colouring with the darker range of mahogany colours. In reality, it is only the way the colours are used that is unusual. Close examination of the surface reveals all the standard realgar-glass colours, but with the visual balance shifted to the darker ones.
  
  The narrow-side vertical lines of different colour reveal that, in common with so many of this shape, it was blown into a mould. In other regards, it is formally unusual. Extremely light compared to most bottles blown into moulds, this example has an unusually wide mouth, with an interior impeccably formed to perfectly match the exterior profile. Another interesting feature is provided by the manner in which brighter colours were added to the surface here. Some of the colours are in discreet, angular segments, albeit swirled with other colours within the segment. It is obvious that chips or fragments of realgar-glass (cullet) have been laid on the marvering surface and rolled into the gather—the most common way of achieving such surface decoration. As a rule, the gather would again be placed in the furnace to melt the two together before it was blown and further manipulated. Where the chips retain their original sharp edges, however, it is possible that the bottle was blown before the surface fragments were rolled in. The heat from the original gather may have been sufficient to integrate them, although it might be necessary to put the whole bottle into the furnace to help this process.
  
  攪色玻璃鼻煙壺
  
  不透亮仿雄黃玻璃；平唇，平底
  1720-1830
  高﹕ 6 厘米
  口經/唇經： 0.98/1.73 厘米
  蓋： 翡翠；掏膛，內壁泌染，鎏金青銅座
  
  狀態敘述：製壺時，表面上的氣泡有切割的，唇內沿呈微不足道的咬痕
  
  來源﹕
  Gerd Lester (1986)
  
  文獻﹕
  Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, no.81
  Treasury 5, 編號708
  
  展覽﹕
  香港藝術館，1994年3月～6月
  National Museum, Singapore, November 1994-February 1995
  
  說明﹕
  本壺是用模子吹製的，可是壺壁比一般的模子製的煙壺薄。口也大，內膛和外形完全一致。看看色片的邊界很清楚，就能了解到，工匠是先把碎玻璃放在玻璃滾料板上，再把吹成的壺輾轉其上，或許再插進熔爐。一般的製法是先把玻璃液和碎玻璃在熔爐中攪拌再吹。
  
  
  
  
  

---

Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

---

Auction terms and conditions