Page 35 - Bonhams Dicker Collection Snuff Bottles March 2015

1034

1034
An aquamarine glass snuff bottle
Probably Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing, 1750-1800
The slender, slightly tapering bottle rising to a waisted neck beneath an everted convex lip,
the sides designed with eight evenly spaced vertical lobes, framed between bands of raised
lingzhi heads at shoulder each above a fringe of simulated jewels, and stylized lappet petals
surrounding the circular foot ring.
2 3/16in (5.5cm) high
$6,000 - 9,000

Provenance
The Asian Art Studio, Inc.
A private Southern California collection
Robert Kleiner
The Bozzo collection, VA

A group of similarly executed bottles connected with the Beijing Palace Workshops, often
seen in glass and chalcedony, has been thoroughly discussed in a number of sources. The
characteristic features of the group are the tapering cylindrical form with vertically lobed sides,
some inscribed although not with the present example, and the peculiar decorations including
fringed lingzhi bands and lappet petals. A very closely related glass snuff bottle, almost
identical to the present example, is illustrated and discussed in The Art of the Chinese Snuff
Bottle, Moss, Grahand and Tsang, Weatherhill, New York, Vol. II, p. 585, no. 350. According
to the above, the bottle is one of the more unusual examples of the group in terms of that it
might have been carved from a solid block of glass rather than blown. Other aquamarine glass
bottles of similar design are sold by Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, 17 November 1973, lot 321; and
Sotheby’s, London, 7 October 1975, lot 64. Compare also to a chalcedony bottle illustrated in
the exhibition catalog Chinese Snuff Bottles: a Miniature Art from the collection of George and
Mary Bloch, the Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1994, p. 275, no. 216.

仿海藍寶石料胎如意蓮瓣紋鼻煙壺

Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Barbara and Marvin Dicker | 33