清十八 / 十九世紀 涅白地套三色料「靈芝梅花」紋鼻煙壺

香港蘇富比1992年4月29日，編號333

Hugh Moss、Victor Graham 及曾嘉寶，《A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Mary and George Bloch Collection》，卷5，香港，2002年，編號988

A barely visible chip in the bud of the ruby red begonia.
"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."

Use of the ground colour to provide a plane of relief carving is an unusual feature among courtly-style glass overlays. A bottle such as this one might have inspired the idea, of which another example is provided by Sale 7, lot 177. Although they occur infrequently, they did become more fashionable with the Yangzhou school (see, for instance, Sale 2, lots 73 and 76; Sale 4, lots 44, 90, and 115; Sale 5, lot 15; Sale 6, lot 113; Sale 7, lot 115; and lot 1127 in the present sale). The technical process is indicated by the fact that all the carving in the white ground is either around the base or at the shoulders, both areas where the bottle curves inward. The bottle was made larger at the top and bottom, with overlay colours added to the middle section in the normal way before the base and shoulders were cut more sharply away from the surface to allow for relief in the ground colour. The origins of bottles such as this are unknown, and while the first examples might have been made intentionally, they might equally have resulted from an accident during production. During the carving of the base, for example, a piece of glass might have been broken off, necessitating the removal of a lot more to even things out. Whatever may have caused the carver to cut more away from round the base and the shoulders, however, would inevitably produce this unusual effect.

It was discussed under Sale 6, lot 193 the possibility that the Guyue xuan enamelled wares of the post-1767 period with occasional relief carving as part of the decoration may have influenced the glass-carving style of examples where the foot rim is not in a contrasting colour. The same speculation applies to this bottle. The ground-colour carving here resembles the relief-carved white glass of the Guyue xuan enamelled wares.

This carving is confident and well controlled, and likely to date from the late Qianlong period, but might have been made in the early years of the nineteenth century. The design is well composed and impressive, although undulations of the ground plane betray the lower standards we associate with the latter part of the eighteenth century. The carver has accommodated the glassmaker’s blobs of colour by allowing certain elements of the design to be dual-toned, as in the case of the prunus tree, where the upper buds on the left-hand side are in blue on a red branch.