Qianlong period, 乾隆 1736–1795

Green glass overlay on snowflake ground, carved on one side with a squirrel and grapes and a grass hopper on the other side.

Two striking particularities set this fine example apart: the bluish-green color of the overlay and the way the design is carved on each side within an invisible roundel. A bottle from the White Wings collection with the same attribute is illustrated in Robert Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles: The White Wings Collection (London: 1997), cat. no. 65, where it is described as a masterpiece. Robert Kleiner refers to the green color as "an unusual shade of Kingfisher-feather green." The squirrel-and-grape motif was a popular design in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties and symbolizes a "wish for ceaseless generations of sons and grandsons." See Terese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meaning in Chinese Art (San Francisco: 2006), no. 3.27.

H: 5 cm

Provenance 起源: Linda F. Crawley

Published 发布: Asiantiques, A Fascination for Miniatures: The Linda F. Crawley Collection of Chinese Snuff (2008), cat. no. 53

Ref. 053-LO734

Price on request