Sapphire Blue Glass Snuff Bottle

[rpfstoneman]

All, just received this glass bottle along with 5 others.  Non are overly exceptional, but this blue glass bottle turned out to be better than the description provided by the auction house.

Sapphire Blue Glass Snuff Bottle:
Brilliant sapphire blue glass bottle of flatten spade form, fine crizzled interior, fared throat with a flat lip, and a recessed slight convex oval foot that is elevated on a protruding raised rounded oval foot rim.  Natural turquoise half bead stopper with a seed pearl finial and set with a black onyx collar.  Bottle height is 5.0 cm without stopper and 2.5 cm on the sides.  Bottle came without a spoon.

Per Moss at.al., A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Bloch Collection, Vol 5, Part 1, on standard glass works the glass disease of crizzling manifests itself on all surfaces of a vessel, whereas in snuff bottles it is often confined to the inner surfaces.  Crizzling, common to European glass in the seventeenth century, is also a feature of much of the surviving Kangxi glass attributed to the Imperial glassworks, of several reign marked Yongzheng examples, and imperial glass as late as the 1780s, with a few occasional examples from as late as the mid-nineteenth century.   

Period: ca. 1750-1850

Condition:  Very good condition with minor wear, minuscule nibbling to the foot, and a tiny chip to the lip.

Provenance:  Galerie Zacke, Asian Art Discoveries – Day 1, 29 June 2023, Lot 0458.
                      From a Hungarian private collection

I had to repair the stopper, and added the onyx collar and a simple ivory spoon.

Charll

[George]

Absolutely lovely Charll !

[richy88]

Nice colour, Charll!

[bambooforrest]

Charll, great bottle! I especially like the back lighted view. Possibly my oldest bottle [60mm] has crizzling inside and out. I posted it on the ICSBS forum and Joey dated it 1690 to 1720. From the Delaware Toy and Miniature Museum sale 2008.

[rpfstoneman]

John,

Nice bottle and similar spoon configuration to the one I used.  Dating of you bottle seems right per Moss's discussion.  He indicated that many of the  glass pieces that are heavily crizzled both inside and out were likely the earliest, Kangxi (1662-1722) into Yongzheng (1723-1735). 

Charll

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Charll,

  I would date your bottle ca.1690 - 1800.
A superb example.
Pity about the damage.
Best,
Joey

[bambooforrest]

This next obviously later example [63mm] is highly crizzled. The bottle has an unusual "wet" feeling to it, which I have only felt in some 1960's copies.

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear John,

   I’d still date this bottle relatively early, due to the crizzling.
You don’t usually find this after 1800, but the shape I would
date to ca. 1820 - 1850.
In other words, Daoguang reign.
Best,
Joey

[bambooforrest]

Joey, I would have to agree. Too bulky for an 18th century bottle.

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Which begs the question, why is it crizzled?
They certainly knew how to produce glass which would
Not crizzle at that period.
Joey

[bambooforrest]

That is a good question!

[rpfstoneman]

All, here is the other recent bottle acquisition from the Bonhams LA auction of 5 December 2023.  A Sapphire blue glass bottle with a highly crizzled interior.

Sapphire Blue Glass Snuff Bottle:
An elongated brilliant sapphire blue glass bottle with a slender body gently tapering towards a finely finished, oval raised footrim, with a cylindrical neck, flat lip, and fine crizzled interior.  Coiled chi long coral colored glass stopper with a green glass collar, and a long shovel ivory spoon.  Bottle height is 7.6 cm without stopper by 1.8 cm in width at the bottle’s breast.  Weight without stopper is 28.8 g.  [WHR = 0.3789]

Per Moss at.al., A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Bloch Collection, Vol 5, Part 1, on standard glass works the glass disease of crizzling manifests itself on all surfaces of a vessel, whereas in snuff bottles it is often confined to the inner surfaces.  Crizzling is a common feature of much of the surviving Kangxi glass attributed to the Imperial glassworks, of several reign marked Yongzheng examples, and imperial glass as late as the 1780s, as well with a few occasional examples from as late as the mid-nineteenth century.

Period: ca. 1700-1750

Condition:  Good.  Measured surface abrasion from use and a minuscule nibbling to the foot rim.

Provenance:  Bonhams, Asian Works of Art, Los Angeles, 5 December 2023, Lot 141.  (Two Bottle Lot)
                    Property From the Collection of Kim Green collection no. 45
                    C. G. Sloan & Co., Chevy Chase, 27 March 1998

Charll



 

[Fiveroosters aka clayandbrush]

This is very nice too!

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Dear Charll,

    I envy you on two counts:
1. A superb bottle and definitely Imperial Glass Works
2. From the collection of the late Kim Green of Alexandria, VA,
and a dear friend, who is sorely missed.
I last saw her at the LA Convention in 2016. A few days afterward, s
he collapsed just after arriving home, and died in January 2017.
We'd first connected in the Chicago convention in 1989.
And Kim Green, her husband Jim Pastorick, Clare Chu [then Lawrence]
and I, along with a number of other collectors, became good friends.
I even went to visit Kim & Jim in Old Town Alexandria VA., a few times.
My last visit there was to honour Kim's memory at a memorial in May 2017.

But I would date the bottle to ca. 1690 - 1750, since the Kangxi Imperial
Glass Works were founded in 1690.

If you are ever selling this bottle...
Best Wishes,
Joey

[richy88]

Hi Charll

Thanks for sharing this sapphire blue bottle.

It reminds me of my bottle too.

Here it is.

Regards.


Richard

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Your bottle is a stunning blue, Richard.
Wonderful!
Joey

[bambooforrest]

Charll and Richard, both of your bottles are very fine.