Amber-Red Glass Overlay

[YT]

Dear all,

Sharing an Amber-Red on misty-white ground Glass overlay. Carving on one side with an archaistic Jade-Bi and a flying Chinese Beast on the other. Interesting ring handle on the side.
Provenance: Barbara and Marvin Dicker; Bernard Wald; Gerd Lester

Cheers,
YT

[Pat - 查尚杰]

YT

What a beauty ! Very well carved... I have seen this beast / dragon before and was told the name but I forgot ...

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear YT,

    I have seen this bottle in all three collections.
    First in Gerd Lester's collection, in NYC in 1979; then Gerd sold to George Bloch his whole collection directly (without using a certain dealer, or any dealer, as a go-between) in the mid-1980s. This displeased a certain dealer, who told him most were mediocre examples, and bunged them into auction at Sotheby's NY. We all got wonderful ex.Gerd Lester collection bottles really cheaply at the auction as a result. George didn't keep it long enough to illustrate it  in a catalogue.
    Bernie bought the bottle and had it for 15 or so years. I saw it numerous times at the Wald home in NYC.  Then the Dickers bought it and it was on display in Palm Beach in 2011.
   
    A great bottle, definitely Palace Workshops and 18th C. And it fits very well into the lecture at the Chicago convention just past, on archaic symbolism and snuff bottles.
Best,
Joey

[Fiveroosters aka clayandbrush]

Dear YT,
thank you for sharing this magnificent bottle.
Dear Pat, usually those so shaped beasts are called chimera.
Kind regards
Giovanni

[George]

Really a nice overlay YT !

Looks like Joey certainly added a great deal of provenance for you !

Congratulations on another bottle .

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

We aim to please... 
Joey

[YT]

Dear Pat,

Thank you. I think the beast you are mentioning is a 'Pixiu'.
Info from Wiki,: "Pixiu or Pi Yao (Chinese: 貔貅; pinyin: píxiū, Wade-Giles: P'i-hsiu), originally[citation needed] known as Bixie (Chinese: 辟邪; pinyin: bìxié; "to ward off evil spirits"), is a Chinese mythical hybrid creature considered to be a very powerful protector to practitioners of Feng Shui.[1] It resembles a winged lion."


Dear Joey,

Again your memory exceeds all kind of explanation and went through time back to 1979. Wow!
Thank you for the extra information that makes this bottle all that special.
I am looking forward to the next issue of JICSBS on the archaic symbolism.


Dear Giovanni,

Thank you.
Chimera has an additional goat head and is more Greek than Chinese.


Dear George,

Thank you. Yes, very lucky to have Joey's magnificent memory and willingness to share.

Cheers,
YT

[YT]

Dear all,

One more point to add about 'PiXiu' from wiki.
"It is believed that the common wingless Pixiu assists in seeking wealth while a winged Pixiu assists students in furthering their studies.
Due to their similar appearances, the Pixiu is often confused with fu Dogs or qilin."

Cheers,
YT

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear YT,

      Is a 'BiXi' and a 'PiXiu' the same mythological creature?
Best,
Joey

[YT]

Dear Joey,

Yes, I believe it is the same creature/beast.

Cheers,
YT

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear YT,

     Thank you.
Joey

[rpfstoneman]

Is a 'BiXi' and a 'PiXiu' the same mythological creature?

All who are interested,

I believe that a PiXiu and BiXie (pinyin) are the same or similar: 

Pixiu or Pi Yao (Chinese: 貔貅; pinyin: píxiū, Wade-Giles: P'i-hsiu), originally known as Bixie (Chinese: 辟邪; pinyin: bìxié; "to ward off evil spirits"), is a Chinese mythical hybrid creature considered to be a very powerful protector to practitioners of Feng Shui.  It resembles a winged lion.

BiXi is one of the "nine sons of dragon" and is a "dragon tortoise" from what I know and have read.

Charll

[rpfstoneman]

YT,

Can't tell from the picture for sure, but does the wing creature (I presume is a PiXiu) on your bottle have one horn or two?  From the pictures it looks to have the head cantered up and centered to show one horn atop of the head between the ears.  Is this correct? 

Charll

[YT]

Dear Charll,

You are correct! There is one horn between the ears.

Your mentioned of PiXiu being a dragon tortoise is new to me. Cannot imagine a tortoise flying or a winged lion swimming.

Cheers,
YT

[rpfstoneman]

Your mentioned of PiXiu being a dragon tortoise is new to me. Cannot imagine a tortoise flying or a winged lion swimming.

YT,

A BiXi is a dragon tortoise.  The PiXiu and BiXie are the winged loin type creature as you mention.  A subtle difference in the English spelling. 

Other information from the web:
PiXiu or Pi Yao , originally known as BiXie , is a Chinese mythical hybrid creature considered to be a very powerful protector to practitioners of Feng Shui. It resembles a winged lion. PiXiu is an earth and sea variation, particularly an influential and auspicious creature for wealth. It is said to have a voracious appetite towards only gold and silver. Therefore traditionally to the Chinese, PiXiu has always been regarded as an auspicious creature that possessed mystical power capable of drawing Cai Qi from all directions. Thus, it is helpful for those who are going through a bad year according to Chinese zodiac.

There are two different types of PiXiu. The difference is with their horns. The one with two horns is known as Pi Ya and the one with one horn is called Tian Lu .

Tian Lu – is in charge of wealth. Displaying Tian Lu at home or in the office is said to prevent wealth from flowing away.

Pi Ya – wards off evil. It is also believed that Pi Ya has the ability of assisting anyone who is suffering from bad Feng Shui that is due to having offended the Grand Duke Jupiter.

This is how I recall and understand the difference between a 'BiXi' and 'BiXie' as read from a number of different sources.  Charll