Glassmaking in China began modestly during the Zhou and Han dynasties, impacted by Western Asian techniques arriving along early trade routes. For centuries, glass remained secondary to the arts of ceramics, jade, and metalwork, though knowledge gradually expanded through transcultural Silk Road exchanges. These accumulated impacts—technical, artistic, and diplomatic—set the stage for the Qing dynasty, when imperial workshops flourished with the celebrated Beijing glassworks in particular.
This season’s collection is a celebration of the refined glassware of the Qing dynasty. We focus particularly on examples from the Imperial glassworks such as Open Loyalty, a deep ruby-red glass overlay upon a milky white ground, the front and rear sides displaying a formalized mallow flower comprising five, fluidly rendered petals. This is a superb example of high-quality carving from the Palace workshops, the narrow shoulders concluded with mask and ring handles on either side.
Chi’s Spread represents another overlay bottle with a unusual variety of coloured glass, six in total, each carved to represent a Chi dragon. The dragons wrap around the bottle’s form, with one at the base next to a nearby lingzhi while another is held in the mouth of second dragon. This clever composition means that the same colour is never repeated in any one view of the bottle, giving the overall design a subtle complexity. Formerly part of The Bloch collection – Chi’s Spread has been widely exhibited and published; full details of which can be found published within the collection below.
As ever, we hope that you enjoy this season’s collection and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you require further information.