A TURQUOISE-BLUE OVERLAY PINK GLASS 'FLOWER BASKET' SNUFF BOTTLE QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

George Horan Ltd., London.
Louise and Christopher Randall Collection.
Christie's Hong Kong, 31st October 1995, lot 1934 (cover). 

Journal of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Spring 1996, p. 29.
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 5, Hong Kong, 2002, no. 968.

The bottle has a miniscule nick to the outer footrim. There are also some tiny burst air bubbles.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Among glass overlays bearing depictions of baskets of flowers, this example offers unusual features in terms of colour combination, the basket itself, and the composition. The combination of pink and blue appears in a group of palace carvings attributable to the palace and datable to the Qianlong period, and baskets of flowers were a popular subject on a range of court arts. However, the standard colour combination of the palace group is pink on turquoise-blue (see Sale 9, lot 160), with blue on pink overlays being much rarer. The combination is particularly effective here partly because the pink is a rather subdued version of the usual colour, with some paler streaking obviously picked up from the overlay colour. The pink in Sale 6, lot 173, and Sale 7, lot 182, is a rather more strident, brighter colour. The colour combination, the courtly mask-and-ring handles, and the subject here combine to suggest an imperial source, which was probably the imperial glassworks.

The dating is more difficult, and could be as early as the second half of the Qianlong period. While a date from the mid- to late Qianlong has been suggested for other baskets of flowers in this collection (Sale 3, lot 80, and Sale 6, lot 162), the current example is distinctly different in both composition and style. The style is simpler and less detailed, this being the only example of the subject where, instead of being carved to imitate real wickerwork, the basket is simply cross-hatched with engraved lines to suggest basket-weave. The imprecise matching of the overlay colour to the foot rim where some pink bleeds through the blue on the outer edge, running into the basket area, with more blue bleeding extensively into the pink foot inside the rim further reinforces a mid-Qing date.