Bottle ID: 00315

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CLEAR, BUBBLES "SANDWICHED" BETWEEN BLUE INNER & OUTER LAYERS

Date: 1740-1850

Height: 54 mm

Glass, of rounded flattened form, with sloping shoulders and with a neatly carved footrim, with regular bubbles sandwiched between an outer transparent layer and an inner transparent cobalt-blue layer.

Possibly Imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing.

Similar Examples:

Lawrence, Clare. The Thewlis Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1990, p. 26, no. 32.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss [HK] Ltd.
The Wald Collection

Exhibited:

Annual Convention ICSBS Toronto, October 2007

This bottle looks at first sight to be dramatically simple. Yet its looks belie the technical virtuoisty behind its manufacture. There is no other recorded example of "flashed" glass in a cobalt-blue color, although flashed red glass is known (flashing being the technique of applying a thin layer of color beneath transparent glass to give the impression of a monochrome color). On close inspection, the almost regular bubbles are sandwiched between the clear layer and the flashed layer. This can be achieved today by using a compound similar to baking soda sprinkled between the two layers. At a very high temperature, the reaction produces such bubbles.

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