Footnotes

• Treasury 5, no. 690
  
  天藍玻璃光素鼻煙壺
  
  A lavender-blue glass snuff bottle
  
  Variegated, translucent, lavender-blue glass with a few scattered air bubbles of various sizes; with a flat lip and recessed, slightly convex foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim
  1730-1850
  Height: 6.16 cm
  Mouth/lip: 0.71/1.19 cm
  Stopper: pearl; coral collar
  
  Condition: miniscule bubble cut through at base of neck; otherwise, workshop condition
  
  Provenance:
  Robert Hall (1984)
  
  Published:
  Kleiner 1995, no.135
  Treasury 5, no. 690
  
  Exhibited:
  British Museum, London, June-October 1995
  Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July-November 1997
  
  Lavender-blue glass is a relatively rare colour, sometimes appearing undecorated, as here, but elsewhere carved with relief designs (see Sale 1, lot 36). It is a possible candidate for the 'azure- blue' (or 'blue sky after rain') designation found in early Chinese sources and recorded as a colour produced at the imperial glassworks as early as 1708 by imported Guangzhou glassmakers. The colour also appears in the archives published so far for 1715, 1721, 1725, 1726, 1727, and 1728. Even if this were the colour, however, it need not imply a Kangxi period for this example. Once established, any colour could be repeated at will.
  
  As to its provenance, we are faced with the same problem as with so many glass bottles: the imperial glassworks is a likely source, but there is little in the way of corroborating evidence. The shape is a modified meiping ('prunus- blossom vase'), which was popular at court, a fact that might nudge us towards a palace provenance and, perhaps, a Qianlong date. The other example of this shade of lavender-blue in the collection is more readily datable to the Qianlong period based on the style of the carving (Sale 1, lot 36), which suggests the same would seem a reasonable guess for this one.
  
  Formally it is an extremely rare variation on the meiping, lacking the traditional incurving base of the standard form. It may even be better related to other standard ceramic forms, but since ceramic and bronze forms were so frequently the inspiration for palace snuff bottles, this would not alter the slight courtly connection noted above. Whatever its source, it is a shape very rarely encountered in the snuff-bottle world, significantly enhancing its appeal. It is likely to have been mould-blown. The paling of the colour towards the neck, another attractive feature, is achieved unevenly, leaving very faint horizontal bands of paler colour where the two merge. The effect is that of light clouds in a summer sky, which offers an enticing association with our 'blue sky after rain' designation, but all we can say at present is that among the colours of blue glass known from China, this one seems to have as much claim to the term as any, and more than most.
  
  天藍玻璃光素鼻煙壺
  
  雜色透亮閃蘭色玻璃，含有零零落落的大小氣泡，平唇，微凸斂底，突出圈足，足底完全接觸地面
  1730-1850
  高﹕ 6.16 厘米
  口經/唇經： 0.71/1.19 厘米
  蓋： 珍珠；珊瑚座
  
  狀態敘述：頸部下部有切割的氣泡；此外，出坊狀態
  
  來源﹕
  羅伯特．霍爾 (1984)
  
  文獻﹕
  Kleiner 1995, no.135
  Treasury 5, 編號690
  
  展覽﹕
  大英博物館，1995年6月～10月
  Israel Museum, 耶路撒冷，1997年7月～月11月
  
  說明﹕
  這種藍色是比較罕見的，有時是用來雕光素器的，有時是用來雕浮雕圖案器的﹕後者參見 第一場拍賣會，拍賣品號 36。
  
  本壺有變形梅瓶形式，是宮廷喜愛的形式。所謂變形，這件壺腹下不斂，跟典型的梅瓶不一樣。反正，這是鼻煙壺界難得的顏色，而顏色從淡到深的變化，可珍賞。
  
  

---

Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

---

Auction terms and conditions