3 - AN AVENTURINE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE, 1760-1820

AN AVENTURINE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE, 1760-1820 To Be Sold Without Reserve Brown glass with gold speckled inclusions (of the variety known as `goldstone’ or `aventurine’ glass), of rounded rectangular form with a cylindrical neck and a recessed oval foot Height: 6.8cm Provenance: Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 5th September 1994, (a copy of the original invoice available) This type of glass was invented in Europe and was much admired by the Chinese Court when it was first introduced during the Kangxi period by Jesuits. They apparently mastered the art of including pieces of raw material from Europe in their own glass production at the Palace (under Jesuit influence) during the Kangxi period and appear to have been able to make the material themselves by the mid eighteenth century (see, Moss, Graham, Tsang, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, p. 572). However, bottles entirely of this material seemed to have been always carved by the lapidary method from solid chunks of glass, rather than by blowing, making it difficult to determine whether the material itself was imported or whether it was simply used that way for some other reason This is one of the larger and more imposing examples known, and the size and shape of the bottle suggest a date from the mid-Qing period 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