Lot 3804. A very rare imperial transparent blue glass 'chrysanthemum' dish, Qianlong incised four-character mark within double-squares and of the period (1736-1795); 7 1/4 in. (18.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 400,000. Price Realized HKD 860,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

The rounded sides moulded with forty-four fluted petals rising to a foliate rim with beveled edge, all resting on a solid ring foot.

Note: Glass dishes of this form are extremely rare and only three other Qianlong marked examples known, a lemon yellow dish from the collection of the Baronesses Sapuppo & d'Essen, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2000, lot 291, and illustrated by Emily Curtis (ed.), Pure Brightness Shines Everywhere, Vermont, 2004, no. 10.4 and cover; an opaque orange example from the Charlotte and John Weber Collection was included in the exhibition, Clear as Crystal, Red as Flame, China Institute, New York, 1990, and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 32; and a translucent red glass example sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 November 2002, lot 305. .

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall