Dear Charll,

    Seven equals 'Shlemut' [wholeness] in Jewish Tradition.
Eight is very desirable from Chinese tradition.
Best,
Joey

Joey, by raising the color setting and lowering the light setting I can get the low relief decoration to come out. This next bottle [69mm] is a more unusual shape with the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. From an internet auction in 2010.

Joey, I understand the bottle might be a little to "busy" for you. The next bottle [80mm] features 5 horses instead of the usual 8. Possibly another bottle in the set? From an auction in 2008.

Thank you all for the feedback and comments.  As Joey said the bottle is a 'stunner', so no regrets on the purchase.  I was just hoping it may have some age to it as well.  Now I'll (we'll) just have to wait for it to arrive to evaluate it further.  As mentioned over the last 20 plus years I've only seen one or two other glass bottles with this chilong design with one of the chilongs acting as the base.  They were $600 to $1600 at the time as I recall. 

When it arrives I'll likely give it a pink chilong glass stopper (to make it 7 chilongs  ) with one of George's spoons.

Charll 

Dear Richard,

      Thank you. Your knowledge never ceases to amaze me.
Best,
Joey

Hi Joey

Yes, some of the threads just slipped through.

The six men were high-ranking officials in the court and close to the emperor. They were also the policymakers who exploited the common people for their own personal gains.

Regards.


Richard

Dear Richard,

     Thank you for fleshing out the Sima Guang story.
Now I understand why your comment in another thread was over 6 years
after the main thread - you are rereading the threads!
Wow, I'm again impressed!.
Best,
joey

Dear Charll,

    Whether 19th C. or late 20th C., this bottle is a stunner.
I must be honest, I have looked at it for over 10 minutes
on my computer screen.
I've gone back and forth : Old, no new. No, old. No, new.
I don't know without holding it in my hand.
But no question - a stunner.
Or as David Dickinson on the UK show, Dickinson's Real Deal
[a show where the public bring their treasures and dealers
try to buy them; or the objects are taken to auction by their owners],
likes to describe a specially impressive object:
"A real Bobby Dazzler!"
What it means, I'm not sure. But it's meant to be a compliment.
Best,
Joey

"is outstanding or excellent
noun British and Australian Slang. a person or thing that is outstanding or excellent.

Bobby dazzler Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com"

Dear John,

     I LOVE 'Anhua' ["hidden"] decoration!
How were you able to photograph it so clearly?
My Anhua example, with a five clawed dragon sandwiched between blue
clouds and bats on the shoulders and waves on the foot,
was very hard to photograph ["Dragon", #13]; and even I can't make out
the design from the illustration in my catalogue.
Best,
Joey

Dear Richard,

   An interesting explanation, though a little over 6 years late...
But as they say, "Better late than never!"
I wonder who "they" are...
Best,
Joey