Page 84 - Ruth and Carl Barron Snuff Bottles September 2016

Ť537
A RARE EMBELLISHED BLUE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1780-1850
The translucent blue glass bottle with raised oval panels on either
side is embellished with finely cut mother-of-pearl, on one side with
a magpie perched in a flowering prunus tree, the reverse with a
butterfly amidst trees with falling leaves. The narrow sides are carved
with panels in imitation of bamboo.
2¬ in. (6.7 cm.) high, quartz stopper
$12,000-18,000

PROVENANCE

Gerry P. Mack Collection; Sotheby’s New York, 25 October 1997, lot 3.
Ruth and Carl Barron Collection, Belmont, Massachusetts, no. 2513.

EXHIBITED

Boston, International Chinese Snuff Bottle Convention, The Barron
Collection, 23-26 September 2008.
The fine quality of this bottle establishes its rarity among
embellished glass snuff bottles. Not only is the applied shell incised
to enhance the viewers interpretation of the foliage and birds, but it
is applied in such thin sections that it allows light to shine through,
showing the attractive green and blue iridescent colors of the shell.
Another blue glass bottle with similar shell embellishment was in
the collection of Lila S. Perry, illustrated in her book Chinese Snuff
Bottles: The Adventures and Studies of a Collector, Rutland, Vermont,
1960, p. 146, no. 160.
䍆⥶蔶∇䅄Ⅷⅸ椱㏋੧ӳ醕挑⥘聖㌉

(another view)

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