34.3.487 Mythical Confusion Transparent ruby-red, and slightly milky-glass suffused with white flakes (of the variety known as ‘snowstorm glass’); of compressed spherical form tapering to a cylindrical neck, with a flat lip and recessed, convex oval foot surrounded by a protruding, flat, oval footrim; carved as a single overlay of red on the snowstorm ground with the same design repeated on each main side of two boys, each holding something different but unidentifiable, each side of an open pavilion, all floating in clouds arising from a vapour plume emerging from what appears to be a shellfish of some sort, rising from formalized waves, with raised bosses, possibly intended as bubbles or splashes of water, the designs linked by the waves around the base from which arise, on each narrow side, two rocky promontories, one with a pine tree growing from it, the other a lingzhi, the foot in the overlay colour Attributed to Beijing, 1780-1850 Height: 5.92 cm Mouth/lip: .67/1.62 cm Stopper: stained quartz; silver collar Provenance: Asiantiques, Winter Park, Florida Hamilton Coll. no. 178 Sotheby’s, New York, 27 March 2003, lot 246 This is from the mid-Qing, and probably early-nineteenth century production made either for the Court, or inspired by Courtly production. The design is unusual, and difficult to interpret precisely. The two boys may indicate the Hehe boys, symbols of harmony, the pavilion in the sky rising in vapour from some sea creature represents the Daoist Paradise, as do the rocky promontories rising from waves, while the raised bosses suggest certainty. What the boys are holding is anybody’s guess.