Black Glass Snuff Bottle With Inscription.

[Luke]

Dear All,

Here is a black glass snuff bottle with inscriptions. This bottle is 100% opaque black glass and I cannot get any light to penetrate it. At first, I thought this bottle might be lacquer or jet, but now believe it's glass and likely imitating lacquer/jet.

Any thoughts on the age of this bottle? I believe the inscription on the foot simply says Qing Dynasty but would be very interested in what the rest of the inscriptions read. I'm very fond of this bottle, but it could just be a bit of nonsense.

The height of the bottle is 4.7cms.

Any help is as always much appreciated.

Best,
Luke

[richy88]

Hi Luke

Interesting bottle.

I believed you have posted it before, but with a different stopper.

The inscription on the bottle is two modified phrases from a poem by Su Dong Po, a poet from the Song dynasty.

The inscription reads:

There were red apricot flowers for ten miles
The top scholar rides home as fast as he can

Interestingly, the same inscription on this bottle was also seen on some old bronze coins and pendants of the Qing dynasty.

Basically, it wishes the recipient to score well in the imperial exams.

The base was incised with the mark Da Qing, meaning Great Qing (dynasty).

For your reference.

Regards.


Richard

[Luke]

Hey Richard,

Thanks very much for the translation! Much appreciated - I will add to my notes and it gives some meaning to the rough scene on the reverse. A familiar theme! Regarding the coins and  pendants - that is interesting and I will try and do some research.

Yeah, I have posted this bottle before with a different stopper on FB. I have a habit of swapping out stoppers and felt this one looked good with the bottle.

Best
Luke

[Joey]

Wow, Richard!
how do you remember details like that?
Impressive.
The bottle is quite pleasing, Luke.
Best,
Joey

[Wattana]

Nice bottle Luke.

Could the bottle's material be obsidian? It's very similar to black glass, but natural rather than man-made.
I say that because on the lateral view I see what looks like a small reddish inclusion, which looks alien to man-made glass.

Best,
Tom

[bambooforrest]

Luke, I also think the bottle could be obsidian. Could you check for evidence of hollowing?....John

[Luke]

Thanks Joey!

Tom and John,

Obsidian sounds like a real possibility. I took an extreme close-up of that chip with a digital telescope I have. Please see the picture below - when I look at it under a loupe it’s hard to say whether it is a chip of rock, maybe wood, or adventurine.

The bottle is very well hollowed out - hard to say in this case whether it is hollowed or an air bubble. When I look inside with a camera and light there is some bright reflection from the light and I have noticed that I never get any reflection from any other well-hollowed stone bottles. I guess they are never polished to that extent inside? Please see the video below:



Best,
Luke

[Wattana]

Luke,

Thanks for the new images.
Except in the case of clear quartz crystal, there is no reason for the interior to be well polished.
Highly polished interior of an opaque bottle generally indicates blown glass. But blown glass usually leaves telltale signs on the base.
The inclusion may be an exposed air bubble that got filled with extraneous matter.

Best,
Tom
 

[bambooforrest]

Luke, Tom is correct but I have seen numerous examples where the foot of the glass bottle is extended and the pull mark cut off. One of the few exceptions is the rare solid block of glass bottle sold from the Dorf Collection where the interior is perfectly polished....John