A BLUE GLASS BOTTLE VASE

Incised Qianlong four-character mark and of the period

Footnotes

清乾隆 寳藍料直頸瓶
陰刻「乾隆年製」楷書款

This vase may be a product of the Beijing Glass Workshop, which was established in the Palace by the Jesuit missionary Kilian Stumpf during the 18th century, under the Department of the Imperial Household. Glass manufacture caught the fancy of Imperial taste and at times became a substitute for precious stones. According to archival records of the Imperial Workshops, Imperial orders detailed the specification of colour and form. The present type of vase was based on shapes from the Yongle and Xuande periods, but attained great popularity from the Yongzheng to Qianlong periods.

For a related Qianlong mark and period blue glass vase with straight neck in the Palace Collection, see Luster of Autumn Water: Glass of the Qing Imperial Workshop, Beijing, 2005, pl.20. Also see a related opaque blue glass bottle vase, Qianlong mark and period, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 3263.

此瓶為標準的宮廷玻璃作製品，直口，長直頸，球腹，撇圈足，平底内凹，通體光素呈透明寳藍色。底部陰刻「乾隆年製」雙竪行楷書款。

長頸天球瓶的造型始見於明初永樂、宣德時期，但像此拍品匀稱的瓶頸與瓶身比例則是由康熙時期景德鎮御窯厰新創器形之一。

參考一件孔雀藍色玻璃直頸瓶，清宮舊藏，見《光凝秋水：清宮造辦處玻璃器》，北京，2005年，圖版20號。香港佳士得曾售出一件乾隆款不透明藍料長頸瓶，2015年6月3日，拍品3263。