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A 12-sided Chienlung Period Bowl of Yellow Glass browse these categories for related items... Directory: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Chinese: Glass: Pre 1800: Item # 944989
Ruyi Studio San Francisco By Appointment San Francisco, CA 94131 415.990.3524 Guest Book $2500.00 |
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| 18th Century. Ching Dynasty, Ch’ien-lung period. This small, thinly carved and semi-translucent, twelve-sided, soft-yellow colored ‘Peking’ glass bowl is superlative among small, undecorated Peking glass vessels of its type. While it bears no inscription or reign mark, it is very likely a product of the Zaobanchu (imperial workshops), or from Boshan in Shandong Province which works often exceed imperial wares, especially in the remarkable thinness of their carving. In either instance, it is on a par with many of the 18th Century imperial examples, which are easily distinguished from the highly decorated, later glass productions of the 19th Century. Understated and perfectly proportioned, its visual interest is sustained by integral form rather than by applied decoration or carving. The facets are neither simply angled nor rounded, but curve towards the raised circular foot and flare gently outwards at the mouthrim. Viewed from the top, the rim gives the effect of a delicately drawn circle edged with 12 celestial points where the inside of the mouthrim is circular, and the outer rim, where the facets meet, is angled—an effect rendered more subtle by the delicate flutes which are a mere 1.5mm thick at their centers. As with fine Chinese porcelain and Ching Dynasty jades, the bowl is sufficiently thin as to be semi-translucent. The color is uniform, however varied by degree of translucency which is highly controlled: the yolk color is consistently darker at the ribs of each facet, the effect resembling the expert pooling of glazes which enhance the structure of technically advanced monochrome porcelains, but perhaps more comparable to the best jade vessels where variations in hue and translucency compliment form. In fact, it is now believed that 18th Century Chinese glass—often cherished precisely because it could be rendered to resemble jade—was often the joint product of imperial glass and jade workshops. Few of the mark-and-period Chinese glass vessels supposed to be imperial will rival the understated and superb form and execution of this little bowl. Dimensions. Height: 5.7cm (2-3/16”); diameter inside mouthrim: 10.6cm; width of mouthrim measured from outside edges approximately 10.8cm; diameter of footrim: 5.4cm. The walls of the mouthrim, at the narrowest point, at the center of each facet, are approximately 1.5mm thick. Weight: 222 grams (7.8 ounces). Provenance: purchased many years ago at a Los Angeles antiques show along with some Roman statuary and a carved Flemish head, all said to have come from a member of the Wrigley Family. The best examples for a point-by-point comparison of the details enumerated above are other Chinese, 18th Century, faceted glass vessels, and especially examples of similar color. The term ‘Later Chinese Glass’ is preferred over ‘Peking Glass’ in any serious, recent study of Chinese glass. Two excellent catalogues offer pertinent examples: “Clear As Crystal, Red As Flame / Later Chinese Glass” by Claudia Brown and Donald Rabiner (1990 – China Institute in America, New York City) is the catalogue for an exhibit of the China House Gallery which brought together important examples of Chinese glass from 19 museums and notable private collections, including several faceted types, the most relevant for comparison being Item 39 (p. 75), a small, undecorated, fluted vase owned by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (Gift of Rudolph Schaeffer, 85 M5.1) and described as “Qianlong mark and period” of very similar color and showing a similar rounded inside rim but of somewhat thicker construction than our example and with a faceted footrim where the bowl offered here has a round footrim. Another important catalog is “Treasures of Chinese Glass Work Shops (1997 / Published by Asiantiques, Inc.). This informative catalogue offers many examples of translucent yellow glass. Item 11 (p. 26) is of particular interest being an octagonal bowl of the Chien’lung period. This bowl is necessarily thicker than our example owing to its superb carved decoration and inscriptions but it otherwise bears a certain similarity in profile to the example offered here although the footrim is rounded. This octagonal bowl is of further interest because, as noted by author Jana Wolf, it bears a private hallmark but is stylistically and technically nearly identical to another bowl bearing the mark “Qianlong nian zhi” on the base and which was illustrated in Christie’s Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, March 28, 1996 as Lot 93. The two bowls are almost certainly from the same workshop and suggest that skilled imperial workers produced nearly identical wares, with and without inscriptions, for both imperial and non-imperial use, respectively. | ||
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