Lot 1130
Treasury 5, no.884 (‘Eternal Ruby’)
HK$75,000

Transparent ruby-red glass and translucent, slightly yellowish white glass, the former with a few scattered small air bubbles; with a flat lip and recessed flat foot surrounded by a protruding flat foot rim; carved as a single overlay with an identical composition on each side of two confronting chi dragons enclosing a formalized shou (‘longevity’) character, the narrow sides with mask-and-ring handles
1750-1800
Height: 5.6 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.71/1.37 cm
Stopper: jadeite; vinyl collar

Provenance:
Eugene Sung (1978)
Gerd Lester (1986)

Published:
Kleiner 1995, no. 158
Tsang 2000, p. 23, fig. 26
Treasury 5, no.884

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

Both its subject and the tiny courtly mask handles indicate the imperial nature of this bottle. The carving here is excellent, particularly of the mask-and-ring handles, with a lovely colour made all the more striking by the unusual yellowish tinge to the white ground. The very neat, crisply carved foot rim here suggests an eighteenth century date, as do the mask-and-ring handles, and although we suspect that the mid- to late-Qianlong period is the most likely, we cannot discount the possibility that this is an example of Qianlong glass-carving style and standards being carried into the nineteenth century by artistic momentum in court arts.

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.