1 - A BLACK OVERLAY AND WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE, PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1770-1820

A BLACK OVERLAY AND WHITE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE, PROBABLY IMPERIAL, ATTRIBUTED TO THE PALACE WORKSHOPS, BEIJING, 1770-1820 To Be Sold Without Reserve Opaque black and translucent white glass, of compressed spherical form tapering to a cylindrical neck and with a recessed, convex oval foot surrounded by a protruding, convex oval foot rim, carved as a single overlay of black on white with a continuous design of three chi dragons, the foot rim in the overlay colour Height: 6cm Provenance: Robert Hall, London Meriem Collection Christie’s, New York, 19th September 2007, lot 672 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 2nd October 2007, (a copy of the original invoice available) It is extremely rare to find a true black overlay glass snuff bottle, as a fine line divides what is a genuine, opaque black, and what is in reality a very dark olive-green, for instance. The present lot is one of the best examples, and only a handful of others are published (including two from the Bloch collection, illustrated by Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, nos. 962-3). Given the intensity of the black, and the confident carving of the favoured court motif of chi dragons, it is likely that this was made for the Court Ω This Lot was imported from outside of the UK, under the Temporary Admission regime 5% import VAT will be charged on the ‘hammer” and 20% VAT will be charged on the ‘buyer’s premium