A RARE ORANGE GLASS ‘REALGAR’ BRUSHWASHER, 18TH CENTURY China. Rising from a short circular hollow foot, the rounded sides tapering towards an inverted mouth, the interior and exterior undecorated and showing natural swirling inclusions in rich amber tone in imitation of realgar, achieved by the merging of red and yellow glass that formed the matrix.

Provenance: Collection of William Lillyman, no. CG 12 (according to collector’s label to base). Bonhams San Francisco, Fine Chinese Works of Art and Paintings, June 23, 2015, lot 7140. An institutional collection in Illinois, USA, acquired from the above. William John Lillyman (1937-2020) was a renowned scholar of German literature, Dean of Humanities and Executive Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Irvine. He established the East Asian Studies program (now a department) at UCI.
Condition: Very good condition with minor old wear and manufacturing irregularities. The foot with small nicks, mostly inherent to the manufacture of this piece, see detail images on www.zacke.at.

Weight: 325.8 g
Dimensions: Diameter 13 cm (at the widest points)

The current lot shows the extraordinary level of mastery in which glass-blowing was controlled by Chinese craftsmen of the 18^th century. Such vessels would have been modeled by blowing melted glass into a mold, thus forming the random and spontaneous swirling glass patterns. The color is also manipulated to great effect, achieved by red and yellow glass paste merged to form the striking realgar-like effect.

Literature comparison: For a vase of similar striated orange and red color imitating realgar, incised with a Qianlong mark and of the period, see Claudia Brown and Donald Rabiner, The Robert H. Clague Collection: Chinese Glass of the Qing Dynasty, 1987, no. 40, pp. 40-41.

Auction result comparison: Compare a near-identical brushwasher, also from the Lillyman collection and dated to the 18^th century, at Bonhams Hong Kong in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 24 November 2013, lot 367, sold for HKD 150,000.

十八世紀罕見橘色仿雄黃琉璃筆洗
中國。豐肩平直，收腹，圈足，光素面。仿雄黃的豐富琥珀色調。由紅黃色玻璃合併而成。

來源：William Lillyman收藏，no. CG 12 (根據收藏標籤)。舊金山邦翰思 Fine Chinese Works of Art and Paintings 2015年6月23日 lot 7140。美國伊利諾伊斯一個研究機構收藏，購於上述收藏。William John Lillyman (1937-2020) 是著名的德國文學學者，加州大學歐文分校人文學院院長兼執行副校長。 他在 UCI 建立了東亞研究項目（現在是一個系）。
品相：狀況良好，有輕微舊時磨損和製造瑕疵。足部有小刻痕，請參閱www.zacke.at上的詳細圖像

重量：325.8 克
尺寸：直徑13 厘米 (最寬處)

拍賣結果比較：比較一件幾乎一模一樣的筆洗，同樣來自 Lillyman 收藏並為十八世紀，見香港邦翰思Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2013年11月24日 lot 367, 售價HKD 150,000。