QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER GILT MARK WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

The use of gold lacquer decoration on glass vessels appears to be quite rare. A pair of green glass bottle vases decorated in gold lacquer with flower scroll is illustrated by C. Brown and D. Rabiner in Clear as Crystal, Red as Flame, China Institute in America, New York, 1990, p. 62, no. 26. A pair of white glass bowls decorated in gilding with chrysanthemum scroll on the exterior and interior, bearing Qianlong marks within a double square, from the collection of Ira and Nancy Koger, sold at Sotheby's New York, 27 November 1990, lot 50. Similar lacquer decoration can be seen on contemporaneous Qianlong jade wares, such as the pair of tea bowls with covers in the Collection of Her Majesty Queen Mary, illustrated by S. Nott in Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, New York/London, 1937, pl. 1. The decoration on the tea bowls is of dragons amidst foliate scroll, and the leaves on these bowls appear to have a feather-like appearance similar to those on the exterior of the present bowl.