Probably Beijing Palace Workshops, Qianlong period, 乾隆 1736–1795

Ruby-red glass overlay on a snowflake ground carved with a continuous scene of nine bats in flight among scrolling clouds, the bottle of compressed form with recessed foot and a long flaring neck.

As mentioned in the footnote of bottle no. 77, bats associated with clouds form the rebus "May you have good fortune or luck." The number nine is also important in China, representing the highest yang (male principle) number and symbolizing eternity. See Terese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meaning in Chinese Art (San Francisco: 2006), no. 7.44.6.

H: 6.5 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. 78

Ref. 078-L0599

Price on request