China Glass Chinese snuff box in sapphire blue glass overlay, decorated with fish and lotus. - 8.9 cm
07
days
18
hours
37
minutes
08
seconds
Starting bid
€ 1
Reserve price not met
Expert
Selected by Sarah Le Helley
Studied Asian art and art market management; researched art in Taipei; worked in auctions.
Estimate € 1,000 - € 1,100
No bids placed
Catawiki Buyer Protection
Your payment’s safe with us until you receive your object.View details
Trustpilot 4.4 | 145414 reviews
Rated Excellent on Trustpilot.
This Chinese Qing dynasty snuff bottle, dating to around 1780–1850, is made of clear glass with carved sapphire-blue overlay depicting fish among lotus flowers and measures 8.9 × 3.7 × 1.8 cm.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Beautiful Chinese snuff bottle from the Qing dynasty in transparent glass with a blue sapphire overlay sculpted, datable to the late 18th to the first half of the 19th century, circa 1780–1850.
Tall and elegantly flattened in shape, with sloping shoulders, a cylindrical neck and an annular oval foot, the bottle is decorated on its two large faces with a particularly lively aquatic scene. Fish move among flowers, buds, leaves and long lotus stalks, all freely carved in a translucent blue sapphire glass overlay applied to a colorless glass body.
The decoration is achieved using the traditional Chinese overlay or multi-layer glass technique: the blue layer has been carefully cut and ground to reveal the raised motifs against the transparent background, then complemented by fine incisions highlighting especially the scales, fins and vegetation details. The underside photograph shows the bottle’s construction particularly well, with the blue foot encircling the transparent base.
The theme of fish and lotus belongs to the auspicious vocabulary of Chinese art. The fish, yu 魚, traditionally functions as a rebus for abundance, yu 餘; paired with the lotus, it evokes wishes for prosperity and repeated abundance over the years. The fish have strongly accentuated eyes and can be cautiously likened to the ornamental varieties known as “celestial eye.”
The form, the quality of relief, the sapphire blue, the glasswork and the decorative vocabulary find parallels in several Qing-period glass overlay snuff bottles preserved notably in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum. These comparisons support a dating to circa 1780–1850, though it is not possible to attribute the piece to a specific workshop.
Provenance: British art market; acquired at a European public sale in 2022, then kept in the current collection.
Good overall condition for its age: some fine scratches and surface wear, small pinpoint nicks at the edge and base as well as a small old chip at the neck. No significant structural damage or major restoration is visible. Red stopper with a dark blue disc and a cork stopper; the exact nature of the red material has not been determined.
Dimensions: 8.9 × 3.7 × 1.8 cm. Weight: 51 g.
The piece will be accompanied by its certificate of authenticity and expertise from MIMOSA SA, including stylistic and technical study, provenance, condition, bibliography and institutional comparisons.
Seller's Story
MIMOSA SA — EXPERTISE, RESEARCH AND TRANSMISSION
For more than 26 years, I have been working as an art dealer specializing in ancient Asian arts. My work is not simply to offer objects: it is to observe them, to understand them, to study them and to document them before passing them to a new collector.
Each work presented by Mimosa SA undergoes thorough examination. Depending on its nature, this study may concern the iconography, the style, the proportions, the material, the execution techniques, surface traces, patina, the condition, restorations, provenance as well as relevant bibliographic, museum or archaeological comparisons. When justified, additional scientific analyses may also be undertaken.
Our approach rests on the experience of sight, gained from direct contact with the works for over two decades, but also on methodical and constantly renewed research. We always favor a cautious, coherent and argued attribution rather than a seductive but insufficiently substantiated assertion.
Transparency is at the heart of our approach. The wear, gaps, accidents, ancient restorations or more recent interventions are reported as precisely as possible. When an attribution carries uncertainty or remains a working hypothesis, it is clearly presented as such.
Present on Catawiki since 2016, we have chosen to maintain a regular selection of works there in order to meet international collectors who value authenticity, knowledge and quality of documentation.
Each acquisition is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued under our professional responsibility. For the most important works, this certificate takes the form of a genuine study dossier gathering the main technical, stylistic, iconographic, historical and bibliographic observations made during our research.
The same standard applies to shipping. Over the years, we have developed a packaging method adapted to old, fragile, heavy or complex-shaped objects. Each work is protected, immobilized and carefully packaged, according to its material and its particularities. The shipping costs correspond to the real needs for protection, handling, insurance and secure transport. Shipping is never regarded as a source of commercial profit.
Acquiring a work from Mimosa SA is to receive a selected, studied, described, documented and prepared object with the same care that we would wish for a work destined for our own collection.
Translated by Google TranslateBeautiful Chinese snuff bottle from the Qing dynasty in transparent glass with a blue sapphire overlay sculpted, datable to the late 18th to the first half of the 19th century, circa 1780–1850.
Tall and elegantly flattened in shape, with sloping shoulders, a cylindrical neck and an annular oval foot, the bottle is decorated on its two large faces with a particularly lively aquatic scene. Fish move among flowers, buds, leaves and long lotus stalks, all freely carved in a translucent blue sapphire glass overlay applied to a colorless glass body.
The decoration is achieved using the traditional Chinese overlay or multi-layer glass technique: the blue layer has been carefully cut and ground to reveal the raised motifs against the transparent background, then complemented by fine incisions highlighting especially the scales, fins and vegetation details. The underside photograph shows the bottle’s construction particularly well, with the blue foot encircling the transparent base.
The theme of fish and lotus belongs to the auspicious vocabulary of Chinese art. The fish, yu 魚, traditionally functions as a rebus for abundance, yu 餘; paired with the lotus, it evokes wishes for prosperity and repeated abundance over the years. The fish have strongly accentuated eyes and can be cautiously likened to the ornamental varieties known as “celestial eye.”
The form, the quality of relief, the sapphire blue, the glasswork and the decorative vocabulary find parallels in several Qing-period glass overlay snuff bottles preserved notably in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum. These comparisons support a dating to circa 1780–1850, though it is not possible to attribute the piece to a specific workshop.
Provenance: British art market; acquired at a European public sale in 2022, then kept in the current collection.
Good overall condition for its age: some fine scratches and surface wear, small pinpoint nicks at the edge and base as well as a small old chip at the neck. No significant structural damage or major restoration is visible. Red stopper with a dark blue disc and a cork stopper; the exact nature of the red material has not been determined.
Dimensions: 8.9 × 3.7 × 1.8 cm. Weight: 51 g.
The piece will be accompanied by its certificate of authenticity and expertise from MIMOSA SA, including stylistic and technical study, provenance, condition, bibliography and institutional comparisons.
Seller's Story
MIMOSA SA — EXPERTISE, RESEARCH AND TRANSMISSION
For more than 26 years, I have been working as an art dealer specializing in ancient Asian arts. My work is not simply to offer objects: it is to observe them, to understand them, to study them and to document them before passing them to a new collector.
Each work presented by Mimosa SA undergoes thorough examination. Depending on its nature, this study may concern the iconography, the style, the proportions, the material, the execution techniques, surface traces, patina, the condition, restorations, provenance as well as relevant bibliographic, museum or archaeological comparisons. When justified, additional scientific analyses may also be undertaken.
Our approach rests on the experience of sight, gained from direct contact with the works for over two decades, but also on methodical and constantly renewed research. We always favor a cautious, coherent and argued attribution rather than a seductive but insufficiently substantiated assertion.
Transparency is at the heart of our approach. The wear, gaps, accidents, ancient restorations or more recent interventions are reported as precisely as possible. When an attribution carries uncertainty or remains a working hypothesis, it is clearly presented as such.
Present on Catawiki since 2016, we have chosen to maintain a regular selection of works there in order to meet international collectors who value authenticity, knowledge and quality of documentation.
Each acquisition is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued under our professional responsibility. For the most important works, this certificate takes the form of a genuine study dossier gathering the main technical, stylistic, iconographic, historical and bibliographic observations made during our research.
The same standard applies to shipping. Over the years, we have developed a packaging method adapted to old, fragile, heavy or complex-shaped objects. Each work is protected, immobilized and carefully packaged, according to its material and its particularities. The shipping costs correspond to the real needs for protection, handling, insurance and secure transport. Shipping is never regarded as a source of commercial profit.
Acquiring a work from Mimosa SA is to receive a selected, studied, described, documented and prepared object with the same care that we would wish for a work destined for our own collection.
Translated by Google TranslateDetails
Culture
China
Century/timeframe
Fin du XVIIIe - première moitié du XIXe siècle, vers 1780-1850
Name of object
Chinese snuff box in sapphire blue glass overlay, decorated with fish and lotus.
Acquired from
Private collection
Year acquired
2000
Material
Glass
Country acquired from
United Kingdom
Condition
Very good
Previous owner acquired from
Auction house
Height
8.9 cm
Previous owner - year acquired
2022
Width
3.7 cm
Previous owner - country acquired from
Europe
Depth
1.8 cm
I verify that I have obtained this object legally and that I am allowed to sell it
Yes
Authenticity
Original/official
Sold by
