Lot 2933. An imperial yellow glass tripod censer, Qianlong wheel-cut four-character mark within a double square and of the period (1736-1795); 3 ¾ in. (9.5 cm.) across handles. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price realised HKD 937,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018.

The slightly compressed bulbous body is raised on three truncated conical supports, with a pair of loop handles rising from the flared flat rim. The opaque glass is of a rich yellow tone. 

Literature: Franz Art, Chinese Art from the Hedda and Lutz Franz Collection-Glass, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 2011, pp.45, pl. 1101.

Note: Yellow glass vessels are very rare due to their strict restriction for imperial usage. A comparable example similar to the present tripod censer, also bearing a Qianlong mark in double squares, in the Andrew K.F. Lee Collection, is illustrated in Elegance and Radiance, The Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000, no. 54.

Two glass garniture sets, each including a Qianlong-marked tripod censer of similar size but of opaque blue and pink colours, from the Beijing Palace Museum, are illustrated in Luster of Autumn Water. Glass of the Qing Imperial Workshop, Beijing, 2005, pls. 117 and 118. Compare also to two opaque turquoise glass tripod censers, one formerly in the Shorenstein Collection and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 2919; the other sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 2310.