Lot 1153
Treasury 5, no.795 (‘The Glitter Twins’)
HK$21,250

A pair; colourless glass; each with a flat lip and protruding flat foot
1710-1770
Heights: 6.19 and 6.2 cm
Mouths/lips: 0.53/1.32 cm. (the perfect one) and 0.44/1.35 cm. (the cracked one)
Stoppers: tourmaline

Provenance:
Robert Hall (1988)

Published:
JICSBS, Summer 1988, p. 1
JICSBS, Winter 1988, p. 1
Kleiner 1995, no. 130
Treasury 5, no.795

Exhibited:
British Museum, London, June-October 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July-November 1997

The glass of these bottles lacks lead and therefore is less than crystal clear. It is no more fragile than other court-made glass. Although there is a crack, it resulted from a tumble to a wooden floor in the Blochs’ display room in Hong Kong. The fact that it survived in one piece, with only a single crack round the body, will be seen as a testament to its strength rather than the reverse.

We suspect this rare little pair was made at the imperial glassworks, following the eighteenth-century fashion for faceted forms. While possibly early, they are unlikely to be from the very early phase, since the absence of lead would surely have left them vulnerable to extensive crizzling.

This is not the Sotheby’s sale catalogue. This is a product of Hugh Moss for the purposes of this website. For the catalogue details please refer to Sotheby’s website or request a copy of a printed sale catalogue from Sotheby’s.