Description
Glass; of broad rectangular shape supported on a raised flat foot rim, the clear body suffused with crizzling, possibly Imperial.
Colourless glass was among the earliest examples produced within the Imperial workshops and the faint crizzling within this bottle is a pointer to an early date of manufacture. It is possible that this bottle was an imitation of rock crystal, a material much used in objects made for the court and a particular favourite of the Qianlong Emperor, although a more successful imitation could have been achieved by the addition of lead, which banished the problem of crizzling and adds a significant degree of brilliance (see Treasury 5, no. 794).
