Oriental Works of Art
Chinese Reverse Painted Glass Globe depicting tigers, Modern
Price: £40
A Chinese Glass globe with thick walls, hollow inside and with a round opening at the base, reverse painted in great detail with three tigers in a landscape setting with bamboo, the base with an inscription 'Dick and Sadie'. Reverse painting is a technique often used by the Chinese for the decoration of snuff bottles where the brush is inserted through the opening at the top and the decoration applied. Here the decorative technique has been used on a rather larger object but with no diminution in the skill of the craftsman indeed the much larger 'canvas' must have proved quite demanding. By repute the decorators require at least one day to create a single example. Heavy and of extremely high quality glass, these pieces, of which various examples are known (there is another one as the following lot to this) may have been intended as paperweights or more likely simply as decorative objects. Some are found with modern wood stands. This piece is sold with a contemporary illuminated stand which, when lit, serves to enhance the decorative effect (see image 8).
Chinese Reverse Painted Glass Globe depicting deities and attendants, Modern
Price: £40
A Chinese Glass globe with thick walls, hollow inside and with a round opening at the base, reverse painted in great detail with deities and attendants amidst clouds, an eight character inscription to the side with a small red seal mark. Reverse painting is a technique often used by the Chinese for the decoration of snuff bottles where the brush is inserted through the opening at the top and the decoration applied. Here the decorative technique has been used on a rather larger object but with no diminution in the skill of the craftsman indeed the much larger 'canvas' must have proved quite demanding. By repute the decorators require at least one day to create a single example. Heavy, but a little lighter than the previous lot (41), and of extremely high quality glass, these pieces, of which various examples are known (there is another one as the previous lot to this) may have been intended as paperweights or more likely simply as decorative objects. Some are found with modern wood stands. This piece is sold with a contemporary illuminated stand which, when lit, serves to enhance the decorative effect (see image 6).