Wanyaxuan mark, 1720-1770The bottle of flattened baluster shape with faceted narrow edges, the three-character studio name, Wan ya xuan (Studio of Refined Amusement) engraved to the lower section of one of the narrow sides, the rest of the bottle plain. 2 7/16in (6.3cm) high, stopper,转到 Chinese Works of Art Go
注脚:1720-1770年 紅料光素鼻煙壺 《玩雅軒》款This bottle belongs to a large group, all which bear the studio name Wanyaxuan, engraved, unusually, low on one of the narrow facetted sides of a vessel of flattened slender baluster form. They appear to have been made in a wide range of colors, although ruby-red glass does seem to be the most ubiquitous.The name 'Studio of Refined Amusement' does not appear among the many studios listed for eminent members of the influential classes, so adding to the uncertainty of production date and maker. However an in-depth analysis of the group as a whole has been made by Hugh Moss, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, in two major publications, The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle, The J & J Collection, Vol. 2, 568-569, no. 337; and also in A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 5, Part 1, Glass, pp. 212-217, no's. 751-753, where the subject has been thoroughly dissected. In summation, they firmly place the production date to the eighteenth century and suggest that a private glass workshop, with possible royal connections, may have produced them. For other examples in ruby-red glass of our slender baluster form, see Moss et.al, ibid., no's 751 and 752 (actually a red-brown); another from the J & J Collection was sold at Christie's, Hong Kong, 30 March 2005, lot 87; and another was illustrated by Wang Ning, One Man's Choice IV, Hong Kong, 2011, p. 92, no. 59. The closest example in size and shape to our bottle is the Bloch example published by Moss et. al., op.cit, no. 752.