Lot 3797. A rare imperial transparent sapphire-blue glass conical bowl, Qianlong incised four-character mark within a square and of the period (1736-1795); 7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 350,000. Price Realized HKD 400,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Of a rich and attractive sapphire-blue tone, the bowl is formed with widely flared sides rising from the narrow ring foot within which the reign mark is incised, the surface slightly crizzled, box.

Note: A bowl of this size and rich colour, with a Qianlong mark, but carved with six evenly spaced triangular indentations at the rim is in the Palace Museum Beijing, and is illustrated by Zhang Rong (ed.), Luster of Autumn Water, Glass of the Qing Imperial Workshop, Forbidden City Publishing House, 2005, no. 36.

Compare also with a glass bowl of this shape and size in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, reference no. 122A-1883.

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