One of a pair of cups, Glass. Height: 4.5 cm, diameter: 8.2 cm. Four-character mark of Qianlong reign (1736-1795). Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery

The Chinese glass collection at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery is one of the finest outside Asia. There are over 300 pieces.

Most of the Chinese glass was acquired in 1950 from Mr H.R. Burrows Abbey through the National Art Collections Fund. It was given to Bristol partly because of the city's history of glass-making. Mr Abbey, who was born in Brighton in 1872, began collecting Chinese glass in about 1916. He continued collecting until his death in 1949. Some of the objects he purchased had been in other private collections, for example those belonging to Mr Ellice-Clark, Captain Warre and Mr A.W. Bahr. Some pieces in his collection were shown in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy, London, in 1935-36.

European glass-makers in the imperial workshops introduced the technique for making ruby red glass by adding gold. These red cups show the high degree of skill in glass-making achieved by imperial workshops by the Qianlong period (1736-1795).

'Horse's hoof' vase, Glass. Height: 8.5 cm, diameter: 4.5 cm, neck diameter: 1.6 cm. Four-character mark of Yongzheng reign (1723-1735) Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery

Saucer, possibly a mixing ink or paint. Glass. Height: 1.0 cm, diameter: 6.5 cm. 1800-1900, Qing dynasty. Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery

Bowl. Glass, carved in relief. Height: 6.1 cm, diameter: 11.7 cm. 1770-1830, Qing dynasty. Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery

One of a pair of water-containers. Glass, carved in relief. Height: 5.2 cm, diameter: 5.1 cm, neck diameter: 1.3 cm. 1700-1800, Qing dynasty. Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery

Eight-sided vase. Glass, mould-blown, facet-cut. Height: 14.2 cm, diameter: 7.9 cm, neck diameter: 2.3 cm. Four-character mark of Qianlong reign (1736-1795) in double-outlined square. 1700-1800, Qing dynasty. Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery

See more of beautiful red chinese glass @ http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/results.php?sit_id=2&categoryId[]=1063