Faceted Ruby Red on Colorless Glass Snuff Bottle, Imperial Glassworks, 1720-1840

This is a very fine, atypical Seven-Sided Faceted Ruby Red over Colorless Glass Snuff Bottle of Meiping (Prunus Blossom Vase) form, with gently curved Concave faceted sides that have been precisely cut to show the colorless clear interior (photo #7); with straight round neck, flat lips, and a slightly protruding and circular flat footing. This bottle is very probable a product of the Imperial Glassworks; it exhibits all the characteristics or features common on snuff bottles produced during the Imperial Phase of the Qianlong Period of Japan (Please refer to the three bottles from the Marakovic Collection in photo #8): the Imperial Ruby Red Color - Item #I. 26, the faceted Meiping form - Item # I. 27, and the functional snuff "dish", with thin and flat footrim - item # I. The faceted concave sides were used as'dishes' to crumble the snuff that sometimes lumped together inside the bottle.

Even the color mixture on this bottle is a result of the work that the Palace glassmakers were experimenting with at the time, according to Hugh Moss and Stuart Sargent in their book'The Marakovic Collection",'blending Ruby red, purple or grape colours into colorless glass and using the faceting to emphasize the color variation", as this bottle clearly shows. Although the bottle is in excellent preserved condition, it shows some of the scratches and minute nicks that are common with bottles that have survived from the Qianlong Period. It is a great historical piece.

• Primary Material: Glass
• Color: Ruby Red over Clear Color
• Original/Reproduction: Original
• Region of Origin: China
• Age: Pre-1800