A red glass cup. Qianlong Mark. Photo Bonhams
Of cylindrical section rising to a narrow waisted everted lip, the thin translucent walls carved in raised relief with an elegantly rendered blooming mallow plant, the base bearing the incised four-character mark within a square border; 3 1/8in (8cm) diameter. Estimate: US$3,000 - 5,000
Note: The mallow flower has been a popular subject for glass blowers since the mid-Qing era. For its use in snuff bottle decoration, see Bonhams, New York, March 24, 2010, the Collection of Margaret Polak, lots 108-112.
Provenance:: Ashkenazie and Company, San Francisco
October 30th, 1986
Illustrated:: Emily Byrne Curtis Qing Imperial Glass, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1995, pg. xxii, fig. 3a.
A pair of red overlay glass covered jars. 19th Century. Photo Bonhams
Each ovoid body rising from a circular footrim and tapering inward to a high shoulder and short narrow neck, the cranberry red glass carved away from the snowflake ground to depict three beauties enjoying a garden, one holding a scroll, one strolling with a fan, and one playing the xiao, the lush surroundings harboring magpies and prunus, blooming mallow flowers, and a sturdy pine sheltering a pavilion and tree peony above rocky outcroppings, the vibrant scene enclosed by plain bands at the foot and shoulder, each domed cover surmounted by a floral finial, 12in (30.5cm) high. Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000
Provenance: Ashkenazie and Company, San Francisco,
September 19th, 1986
A ruby red glass cup. Photo Bonhams
Fashioned in the form of a garden stool, the thin, translucent walls carved in high relief with exotic split-tailed dragon and phoenix birds set off by fierce taotie masks enclosed by a row of raised bosses and a band of stiff lappets above a recessed base and narrow footrim. 4in (10cm) high.. Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000
Provenance: S. Bernstein & Co., April 9th, 1992
Illustrated:: Clarence F. Shangraw, A Chorus of Colors: Chinese Glass from Three American Collections, San Francisco, 1995, pg. 108, pl. 83
A turquoise glass bowl. Republic Period. Photo Bonhams
Fashioned as a lotus leaf tapering outward to an elegantly everted petallate rim, the exterior walls naturalistically carved in relief with the leaves, blossoms, pods, and stems forming a crown incorporated into the raised foot and surrounding the large characters he hua (lotus)., 7 1/4in (18.5cm) diameter. Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000
Provenance: Purchased Ashkenazie and Company, San Francisco, June 18th, 1990. Published in 'A Chorus of Color: Chinese Glass from Three American Collections' (Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1995) as no. 101, page 124.
A pair of two-color overlay glass vases. Photo Bonhams
Of meiping form, with pink and green glass layers expertly carved away from the opaque white ground to reveal a detailed tableau of prunus issuing from rocky outcroppings and magpies hovering above, the verdant scene set under a band of stylized lappets at the shoulder and raised pink bosses under the banded neck; 7in (18cm) high. Estimate: US$2,000 - 3,000
Provenance/ / Ashkenazie and Company, San Francisco
November 21st, 1990
Illustrated: Emily Byrne Curtis Qing Imperial Glass, Chinese Snuff Bottles in the collection of Mary and George Bloch, Hong Kong, 1995, pg. xxvi, fig. 10
A Peking glass tripod censer simulating agate. Late Qing Dynasty/Republic Period. Photo Bonhams
Of compressed ovoid shape raised on three short conical supports and molded with a pair up-right arched handles embellished with raised key-frets, the sides carved and incised with blossoms amid scrolling leafy tendrils below a band of lotus petals encircling a waisted neck, an incised key-fret band defining the rim, the translucent body simulating banded agate with swirls of russet in a gray matrix; 4 3/4in (12cm) diameter. Estimate: US$1,000 - 1,500
A pair of yellow glass miniature vases. Qianlong mark. Photo Bonhams
Rendered in glass of opaque hue, with narrow apertures to the wide globular bodies, the sides incised with archaistic taotie masks and kuilong motifs above a lotus petal band at the foot surrounding the slightly convex base bearing the four-character mark in standard script.; 2 3/4in (7cm) high. Estimate: US$1,000 - 1,500
Provenance: Charlotte Horstman and Gerald Godfrey Ltd., Hong Kong
March 21st, 1988
A red, snowflake white and green glass cicada. Photo Bonhams
The glass layered in red and snowflake white to portray the realistically rendered insect crouched on three green lotus leaves attached to a stem; details to the wings, eyes, thorax, abdomen, legs, as well as the veins on the leaves all carefully delineated; 2in (5cm) long. Estimate: US$800 - 1,200
Provenance: Purchased Robyn Turner Gallery. May 3rd, 1995. Published: 'Pure Brightness Shines Everywhere: The Glass of China', Curtis, Emily Byrne (Ashgate Publishing, 2004), page 96.