Description
Glass; the transparent body with a thick-walled mouth, overlaid on one side with a phoenix strutting on a rocky bank framed by pine and prunus, beneath a cloud billow on the shoulders, the reverse with a Buddhist lion, stalking beneath a pine tree, with a cub on a rocky outcrop above, the raised foot rim with a broad edge.
Although quite a common subject, the phoenix on this bottle has been invested with an unusual amount of confidence as it struts across the surface. The scene on the reverse with the lion and its cub on a rocky bank above has moved away from the more stylised subject-matter of the eighteenth century and recalls the style of decoration often found on enamelled snuff bottles of the Daoguang period (1821- 1850).
