清乾隆 涅黃地半透黃料花卉圖鼻煙壺 《乾隆御製》款

T.P. Knight 收藏
紐約蘇富比1970年12月20日，編號6
Margaret Prescott Wise 收藏
Edgar and Roberta Prescott Wise 伉儷收藏，1995年
Robert Kleiner，倫敦，1996年

冼祖謙、許建勳及鄺溥銘編，《壺趣集慶：中國鼻煙壺展》，徐氏藝術館，香港，1996年，編號40

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955

There is one tiny chip in the inner lip. There are also four minute chips, two on either of the narrow sides. There is a small chip in the right hand side edge of the rocky outcrop. There are many burst air bubbles, including one larger and elongated seen in the base of the neck. The snuff bottle is otherwise in overall good condition.
"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."

It seems that whenever one comes close to establishing a framework for understanding glass carvings, something comes along to puncture the fragile bubble of confidence. This bottle performs the demolition in rather spectacular fashion. Despite the yellow-on-yellow combination and the yuzhi reign mark, both clearly suggesting the bottle to be imperial, and probably of the Qianlong period, conflicting evidence exists in the rather strangely written reign mark. The entire bottle is, in fact, atypical.

An engraved mark can, of course, be added at any time, but two factors suggest that this one should be viewed as genuine. The surface patination and even polish on the whole bottle, including the engraving of the mark—even when inspected under high magnification—confirms that the mark has not been added recently. In fact, the engraving seems to have been executed at the same time as the carving, which introduces the second factor.

In the absence of a mark, one would date this bottle to the mid-Qing period, with a late Qianlong date as the most likely, since the style of carving reflects the group discussed under Sale 8, lot 1081, and represented by Sale 3, lot 87, and Sale 8, lot 1072. It also bears similarities to Sale 4, lot 14, the unusual green-on-lavender bottle.

This shape and the detailing, however, are atypical of the group and also of palace production in general. Unusually broad at the base, this bottle exhibits a disproportionately large foot for a compressed pear shape. There is a bizarre quality to the foot rim, which is unusually deep on the outside and shallow on the inside, with a continuously rounded surface quite unlike the customary palace foot. The foot rim is also poorly defined by the overlay colour, for this transparent gold covers only the outer area of the rim and, in places, barely any of it.

The reason for these puzzling anomalies may lie in the suggestion made elsewhere that yuzhi marks in the Qianlong period were sometimes used for orders outside the court or for testing new carvers for appointment to the palace workshops. This might explain why some of the rare glass bottles bearing this form of mark are atypical of palace production. While this is no more than speculation, were a palace drawing sent to an outside carver with instructions to produce a bottle for the emperor, this is precisely the result one might expect: a bottle of obvious imperial style and colour, but with unexpected features.

It is also perhaps significant that the ground colour is of a rather speckled, soufflé glass otherwise unknown in imperial production.