Footnotes

Treasury 5, no. 937

寶藍地白料套玻璃百合花鼻煙壺


White Delight

Translucent white and transparent dark, sapphire-blue glass with a few air bubbles of various sizes; with a flat lip and recessed convex foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim; carved as a single overlay with a similar design on each main side of two lily flowers, with another on each of the narrow sides
1750–1790
Height: 6.1 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.60/1.61 cm
Stopper: coral; stained bone collar
Condition: two small chips on inner lip, and the inner lip possibly with very minor recutting to disguise or remove others, not at all obtrusive; one very small chip on outer lip, not obtrusive; two tiny nibbles to outer footrim, not obtrusive. General relative condition: excellent


Provenance:
Hugh M. Moss Ltd
B. T. Lyons
Sotheby's, London, 20 April 1982, lot 15
Mei Ling Collection
Sotheby's, New York, 15 March 1984, lot 37
JWA International (1986)
Robert Kleiner

Published:
Kleiner 1987, no. 102
JICSBS, Autumn 1988, p. 12
Galleries Lafayette 1990, p. 12, no. 9
Illustrated London News, Summer 1990, p. 49
Orient Express Magazine, Summer 1990, p. 49
Prestige, Summer 1990, p. 49
Kleiner 1995, no. 163
Treasury 5, no. 937

Exhibited:
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, October 1987
Galeries Lafayette, Paris, April 1990
Creditanstalt, Vienna, May-June 1993
British Museum, London, June-October 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July-November 1997

Commentary
One of the most spectacular glass-overlay designs on snuff bottles is composed of a series of picked lily flowers in white, on a blue ground so dark it is occasionally mistaken for black. By virtue of their relative rarity, as well as obvious and immediate appeal, these are also among the most sought-after of glass overlays. The stronger of the lily-flower designs, which is displayed here, appears on two shapes, but there is also a related group of the same subject but entirely different composition. The second shape is a compressed, elongated ovoid verging on a rounded-rectangular form, and is found on one example from the Gerd Lester Collection and currently in the Rachelle Holden Collection (Sotheby's, New York, 23 March 1998, lot 72, re-offered after having been withdrawn, due to a legal dispute regarding ownership, from Sotheby's, New York, 17 March 1997, lot 35). For others of a shape similar to this example, see Chinese Snuff Bottles No. 5, p. 26, fig. 9, from the Mullin Collection, and White 1990, pl. 105, no. 2. The related design mentioned above is composed of two flowers - one of which has yet to open - springing from a single stem. They are relatively more common, although still rare (see for instance Thewlis 1990, no. 53; Lawrence 1996, no. 117, on an unusually pale sapphire-blue ground; Sin, Hui, and Kwong 1996, no. 38; Sotheby's, New York, 26 February 1981, lot 4, and Chang 1991, no. 307, also on a very pale, transparent blue ground, while another, unusual example in white on a pink ground, is in the Denis Low Collection (Low 2007, no. 141). Treasury 5 no. 938 is also obviously related, but with a different subject.

Here, as on other examples of this group, the confident carving style is combined with an excellent ground plane. This example also displays a very crisp and perfectly defined footrim, the overlay colour of which matches it precisely. The mouth is relatively small, some others being larger, and a date from the second half of the eighteenth century seems the most likely, with the imperial glassworks remaining the likely source.
These lilies provide a truly spectacular design and are chosen, as so often, to express a desire for marital harmony. The name of the lily, baihe, calls to mind the expression bainian haohe, meaning 'a happy union lasting a hundred years,' and, often used to allude to a blissful marriage, expresses also desire for long life - understandably considered a prerequisite for any century-long union.


一夜百合香，百年雙喜樂

透明深藍寶石藍色，含大小氣泡玻璃套飾半透明白色料；平唇、凸斂底、突出平底圈足；套飾四朵百合花，一面一朵

1750～1790年冬
高：6.1 厘米
口經/唇經：0.60/1.61 厘米
蓋：珊瑚，染骨座
狀態敘述：口沿有二小缺口，唇內緣似有所修削，或許是為了削除或掩飾別的缺口，外緣有極小的缺口，不引人注目，圈足外緣則有二小咬痕，亦不引人注目；一般相對的狀態：極善

來源：
Hugh M. Moss, Ltd
B. T. Lyons
蘇富比，倫敦，1982年4月20日，拍賣品號15
Mei Ling 珍藏
蘇富比，紐約，1984年3月15日，拍賣品號37
JWA International (1986)
Robert Kleiner
文獻：
Kleiner 1987, 編號102
《國際中國鼻煙壺協會的學術期刊》Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 1988年秋期，頁12
Galeries Lafayette 1990, 頁12，編號9
Illustrated London News, 1990年夏期，頁49
Orient Express Magazine, 1990年夏期，頁49
Prestige, 1990年夏期，頁49
Kleiner 1995, 編號163
Treasury 5, 編號937
展覽﹕
Sydney L. Moss Ltd, 倫敦, 1987年10 月
Galeries Lafayette, 巴黎，1990年4月
Creditanstalt, 維也納, 1993年5月～6月
大英博物館, 倫敦, 1995年6月～10月
Israel Museum, 耶路撒冷, 1997年7月～11月

說明：
套玻璃鼻煙壺最光彩奪目的圖案之一是深藍地白色百合花。這些煙壺也是比較罕見的，因而是最爭購的一種之一。另一個形式是扁身直腹，Gerd Lester 珍藏曾收一件，現在已歸Rachelle Holden 珍藏（蘇富比，紐約，1998年3月23日，拍賣品號72；原為蘇富比，紐約，1997年3月17日的拍賣品號35，但因有關所有權的訴論而退了）。近乎本壺的形態式有Mullin珍藏的一件（Chinese Snuff Bottles 5, 頁26，圖9）、White 1990, 插圖105，編號2。圖案的另一模樣是一莖一蓓一花，此種稍微多一點點，參見Thewlis 1990, 編號53、Lawrence 1996, 編號117（地為特殊的淡寶藍色）、蘇富比，紐約，1981年2 月26日，拍賣品號4、Chang 1991, 編號307（地亦為特殊的淡藍色）、 Low 2007, 編號141。Treasury 5, 編號938，顯然和本壺有關係，但圖案不同。

本壺雕刻精煉，藍地優秀，圈足恰貼，口比其他幾件小一點，大約可定為十八世紀後半期、御用玻璃廠的顏品。