Page 202 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

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A RARE REALGAR GLASS SEAL PASTE BOX AND 清雍正 雄黃料印盒
COVER 《雍正年製》款
MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG
of compressed globular form, supported on a straight foot,
the opaque variegated brilliant orange and ochre-yellow
glass swirled together to resemble the mineral, the base with
a wheelcut four-character reign mark within a square
5.9 cm, 2⅜ in.
HK$ 800,000-1,200,000
US$ 102,000-153,000

The attractive variegated swirls on this box were made in Arts II, London, 1965, pl. 81; and a set of ten glass cups
imitation of the orange-red coloured arsenic sulphide mineral acquired in Guangzhou and brought to Europe in 1732, now
realgar (xionghuang). Found in the southern provinces of in the Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen, published in Bente Dam
China, this poisonous mineral was believed to contain the Mikkelsen et. al., Ethnographic Objects in the Royal Danish
essence of gold and thus became a popular ingredient in Kunstkammer, 1650-1800, Copenhagen, 1980, p. 218, nos
Daoist recipes for longevity. Realgar has a soft crumbly Ebc 71-82.
texture and is highly toxic, hence its attractive natural Realgar glass boxes inscribed with Qianlong reign marks
pattern of swirls was reproduced in glass.
are known: one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated
Realgar glass appears to be an innovation of the early 18th in Zhongguo jin yin boli falangqi quanji [Complete collection
century, and Yongzheng mark and period wares of this of Chinese gold, silver, glass and cloisonné enamel], vol. 4,
type are rare. Of the twelve glass objects inscribed with Shijiazhuang, 2004, pl. 186; and another in the Andrew K.
Yongzheng reign marks in the Palace Museum, Beijing, only F. Lee collection, was included in the exhibition Elegance
a bottle vase appears to be made in imitation of realgar and Radiance, Art Museum, The Chinese University of
(accession no. gu00107602). Unmarked examples of realgar Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2000, cat. no. 134. Compare also
glass are more commonly known, such as a pair of facetted a realgar box, lacking the reign mark but attributed to the
vases made prior to 1753, when they entered the collection Qianlong reign, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in
of the British Museum, London, one of which illustrated in Zhang Rong, Lustre of Autumn Water. Glass of the Imperial
Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese Art. The Minor Workshop, Beijing, 2005, pl. 39.

Mark

200 SOTHEBY ’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART