The Meriem Collection Part II. Lot 209

209
**A RARE FIVE-COLOR OVERLAY BUBBLE-SUFFUSED COLORLESS GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
PROBABLY IMPERIAL, PROBABLY PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1750-1820
Of flattened form with flat lip and recessed, flat foot surrounded by a footrim, the main sides carved through the transparent pink, green, yellow and reddish-pink overlay to the bubble-suffused ground with four sinuous chi dragons, the lower section encircled by a further pair of dragons with sprigs of lingzhi fungus carved from the transparent blue overlay, glass stopper with gilt-metal collar
6.4 cm. high
$18,000-25,000

P R O V E N A N C E :
Hugh Moss Ltd.

Multi-colored single-plane overlay bottles can have from two to nine different colors, although two to five is the norm. By the early Yongzheng period lapidaries producing cameo designs with multicoloured hardstones, including jade, were transferring their skills to the carving of multi-colored glass.

The chi dragon was a popular motif on multi-colored overlay glass bottles, with each beast typically depicted in a different color. Another example, formerly from the Meriem Collection and sold in these rooms, 19 September 2007, lot 695, has dragons that align vertically, reminiscent of fluted bottles from the late Qianlong period. See also, several multi-color overlay glass bottles carved with chi dragons in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, illustrated by Moss, Graham and Tsang, in A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, nos. 978, 981, 984 and 993.

The Meriem Collection Part II. Lot 209