Message #46475

[Wattana]

Hi Toni-Lee,

That is a stellar bottle! There is a series of carved quartz crystal bottles (see examples from the Bloch collection) which incorporate a yellow inclusion into the design. Often the inclusion is of circular shape, and gets interpreted into a sun or moon, as in the case of Jo's lovely bottle. The way yours has been carved into a flower (or fruit?) is nothing short of brilliant.
The quality of carving and the mask handles, plus the overall shape of the bottle, suggest to me a tentative dating of 1780-1850. The unusually wide and rounded foot rim is another indicator. As you will have noticed, it is similar to the foot rim on Jo's bottle, and could even have been produced by the same workshop.

Tom