Message #32110

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

David,
   Look at the quality of the background. It should be as smooth as possible. It is not technically hard to carve the overlay, or add detail to its surface. It is very hard to get a mirror-like finish on the background in between the bits of overlay.
   For example, take a Qianlong period  red overlay I bought at auction in London, Spring 1989, with an Imperial design of cash and ropework; the  ropework was very well incised with lines to look 'rope-like', but what made it great was the Imperial design and the superb polish of the camphor glass background.
   If a decoration is 'appliqued' on, the background polish is not important. This is when design elements are made separately from the bottle, and then appliques and bottle are re-heated and appliques applied to bottle surface, with molten glass 'threads' used to connect the appliques to each other. Most of these are late 19th C., and feature applique flower heads and leaves, with the stems done in molten glass 'threads'.
   When you look at an overlay, look at the carving's connection to the bottle surface at an angle. You will see that the cutting goes into the surface material, because it is impossible for the cutter to 'just' cut the overlay material. If the background is not cut into, it must be applique, not overlay.

  Hope this clarifies things a bit.
Joey