205 - A CARVED TRANSPARENT AQUAMARINE COLOURED GLASS ‘KUI DRAGONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE PROBABLY IMPERIAL, 1760-1880

A CARVED TRANSPARENT AQUAMARINE COLOURED GLASS ‘KUI DRAGONS’ SNUFF BOTTLE PROBABLY IMPERIAL, 1760-1880 To Be Sold Without Reserve Of neatly hollowed, compressed elongated apple shape with a waisted neck, flat upper-neck-rim, concave lip and recessed, flat oval foot surrounded by a protruding, flat oval foot rim, carved with a repeated design on each side of two confronting kui dragons, with a pearl between their open mouths, their tails metamorphosing into bird-heads, each narrow side with a line of five raised bosses Height: 5.7cm Provenance: Shakris, October 2007 Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd, 25th March 2008, (a copy of the original invoice available) During the Qianlong period the Palace glassworks produced a series of imitations of precious stones (tourmaline, aquamarine, beryl, sapphire, etc) where the blocks of glass were produced in the glassworks and then carved in the Palace workshops as if they were pieces of the original material. The use of solid blocks allowed for heavier bottles and greater verisimilitude in the final object. These were particularly popular in the mid-Qing period, into the nineteenth century and several series were reproduced many times at the Court for distribution as gifts. This is one of them, imitating aquamarine or pale green beryl, and carved with distinctive, typically Imperial kui dragon designs found elsewhere on Palace arts, such as jade carvings 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