Lot 69. An imperial yellow glass octogonal bottle vase, Qianlong four-character mark and of the period (1736-1795); 14cm high. Sold for £19,200. © Bonhams 2001-2024

Deftly carved of pear shape with eight slightly concave faceted sides, rising from a tall, slightly spreading foot to a tally neck, of opaque lemon-yellow tone, the slightly recessed base with incised four-character mark within a double square.

Provenance: an English private collection, and thence by descent

Note: Several Qianlong-marked octagonal yellow glass vases have been published. One in the Franz Collection, is illustrated by E.B.Curtis, Pure Brightness Shines Everywhere: The Glass of China, Burlington, 2004, pl.9.1; one in the Andrew K.F. Lee Collection, illustrated in Elegance and Radiance: Grandeur in Qing Glass, Hong Kong, 2000, pl.18; one in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Clear as Crystal, Red as Flame, New York, 1990, no.18; and the fourth illustrated in Baur Collection, One Man's Taste: Treasures from the Lakeside Pavilion, Geneva, 1989, no.G6, which was later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 2916. Compare also with two related yellow glass vases but decorated with prunus on cracked-ice, of similar shape, Qianlong and Yongzheng marks, illustrated in A Chorus of Colors: Chinese Glass from Three American Collections, San Francisco, 1995, nos.26 and 27.
Compare with a related Beijing yellow glass bottle vase, incised Qianlong four-character mark and of the period, which was sold at Bonhams London, 6 November 2014, lot 146..

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, New Bond Street, 7 November 2024