Bottle ID: 280

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BASKET-WEAVE

Date: 1750-1800

Height: 66 mm

Amber, of a rich opaque dark reddish-brown color, of flattened ovoid form with shoulders sloping to an everted mouth, the body tapering towards a flat oval foot, carved continuously in low relief with a basket-weave design from the base to the shoulders.
Possibly imperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops.

Similar Examples:

Crane Collection no. 636.
Crane Collection no. 654.
Snuff Bottles - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Vol. 47, Beijing, 2003, p. 144, no. 214.
Kleiner, Robert. Chinese Snuff Bottles - The White Wings Collection, 1997, p. 222, no. 154.
Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol.7, Part 1, pp. 90-91, no. 1502 and pp. 288-289, no. 1579.

Provenance:

Clare Lawrence Ltd.
Alexander Brody
Hugh Moss
Bob Hall
Janet Gordon

Published:

Lawrence, Clare. The Alexander Brody Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 1995, p. 38, no. 52

Although amber bottles were popular from the Qianlong period onwards, there is no other opaque amber bottle published that has the "basket-weave" designed carved on its outer surface. The 'Bloch' similar example no. 1579 and the 'White Wings' no. 154 are both fashioned from pieces of clear amber, whilst the 'Bloch' example no. 1502 has a ground resembling opaque amber. Bottles with this design are also found on other materials such as jade, primarily in white, and agate, although the latter group with its generally larger, more bulbous forms, may be dated slightly later into the Daoguang period. The Palace Collection has a white jade example carved with a basket-weave design, which is a very similar shape to the Crane bottle, but none in any other material. This stunning amber bottle was previously known as the "Gordon Amber".

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