A yellow glass snuff bottle. Imperial glassworks, Beijing, Qianlong incised four-character seal mark and of the period, 1736-1770. Photo Bonhams

6.13cm high. Lot 107. Sold for HK$ 500,000 

Treasury 5, no. 777 

明黃玻璃鼻煙壺
御用玻璃廠，北京，陰刻「乾隆年製」篆書款，1736～1770

A yellow glass snuff bottle

Translucent yellow glass; with a flat lip and recessed, slightly convex foot surrounded by a protruding flattened footrim; the narrow sides carved with mask-and-ring handles, the foot inscribed in engraved seal script Qianlong nian zhi ('Made during the Qianlong era')
Imperial glassworks, Beijing , 1736-1770
Height: 6.13 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.65/1.10 cm
Stopper: tourmaline; gold collar

Condition: Surface patina of tiny scratches from use, not visible to the naked eye; otherwise, in workshop condition

Provenance: Hugh M. Moss Ltd.
Belfort Collection (1986)

Published: Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, p. 66, fig. 58
Jutheau 1980, p. 58, figs. 3 and 4
Kleiner 1987, no. 65
Kleiner, Yang, and Shangraw 1994, no. 63
Kleiner 1995, no. 112
Treasury 5, no. 777

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, October-December 1978
L'Arcade Chaumet, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, June-August 1982
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, October 1987
Creditanstalt, Vienna, May-June 1993
Hong Kong Museum of Art, March-June 1994
National Museum, Singapore, November 1994-February 1995
British Museum, London, June-October 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July-November 1997

One might expect this superbly made bottle to be more worn than is the case, if for no other reason than the number of times it has been photographed, published and exhibited. Without doubt one of the great relatively plain Imperial yellow glass snuff bottles, it displays perfect formal integrity, superb detailing, gorgeous shape, lovely colour, and an impressive, entirely credible mark. 

The carver has very carefully reduced the entire area round the handles, preserving the perfect formal integrity of the bottle. If we visualize the bottle without these handles, the remaining form remains impeccable.