China Glass Chinese snuff box in sapphire blue glass overlay

Beautiful Qing dynasty Chinese snuff bottle in transparent glass with a sculpted sapphire-blue overlay, dating from the late 18th to the first half of the 19th century, circa 1780–1850. Of tall, elegantly flattened form with sloped shoulders, a cylindrical neck, and an annular oval foot, the bottle is decorated on its two broad faces with a particularly animated aquatic scene. Fishes swim among flowers, seed-pods, leaves and long lotus stalks, all set against a background of translucent sapphire-blue glass applied to an otherwise colorless glass body. The decoration is achieved by the traditional Chinese overlay or multi-layer glass technique: the blue layer has been carefully cut and ground to reveal the relief motifs on the clear base, then finished with fine incisions emphasizing the scales, fins and vegetation details. The underside photograph notably illustrates the bottle’s construction, with the blue foot surrounding the transparent body. The theme of fish and lotus belongs to the auspicious vocabulary of Chinese art. The fish, yu 魚, traditionally serves as a rebus for abundance, yu 餘; paired with the lotus, it evokes wishes for prosperity and recurrent abundance year after year. The fish display strongly defined eyes and can be closely associated, with caution, with the ornamental varieties known as “celestial eye.” The form, the quality of the relief, the sapphire blue, the glasswork and the decorative vocabulary have parallels in several overlay glass snuff bottles from the Qing period preserved notably in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum. These comparisons support a dating to circa 1780–1850, without being able to attribute the piece to a specific workshop. Provenance: British art market; acquired at a European public sale in 2022, subsequently housed in the current collection. Overall good condition for its age: several fine scratches and surface wear, small nicks at the rim and base, as well as a small old chip at the neck. No major structural damage or significant restoration is visible. Red stopper with a dark blue collar and a cork stopper; the exact nature of the red material has not been determined. Dimensions: 8.9 × 3.7 × 1.8 cm. Weight: 51 g. The piece will be accompanied by its certificate of authenticity and expertise from MIMOSA SA, including stylistic and technical study, provenance, condition, bibliography and institutional comparisons. video link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/l56t8c11gsfd6wegtjlws/AN6VMQknMiaYol5miZO_zQ4?rlkey=l0o1r8tvsgswm4vl5j8rfo9g2&dl=0

Estimation:€1,000

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