Description:

Eight-sided vases like this were made in the imperial workshops for about two hundred years. The records of the Palace workshops regularly mention glass made in �transparent red�.

Glass, mould-blown, facet-cut
Height: 14.2 cm, diameter: 7.9 cm, neck diameter: 2.3 cm
Four-character mark of Qianlong reign (1736-1795) in double-outlined square

Chinese Description:

花瓶 中国，清朝，约1736-1750 清宫玻璃厂制造这类八角瓶，已达二百多年之久。内廷记录经常提到用｢透明的红玻璃｣做成的制品。 玻璃，模铸吹制，轮刻 双方框内刻有｢乾隆年制｣四字刻

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1736-1750, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4530

Description:

The opaque green glass of this vase makes it look like a ceramic glazed with a green celadon glaze. The reign-mark on the base of this piece has been ground away, possibly to make a 19th century piece look older.

Glass, facet-cut
Height: 14.0 cm, diameter: 7.4 cm, neck diameter: 2.6 cm
Traces of ground-out mark on the base

Chinese Description:

花瓶 中国，清朝，约1700-1900 这种不透明的绿色花瓶看起来像青瓷。瓶底的帝号款识已被磨去，也许使这十九世纪的制品看起来更古老。 玻璃，模铸吹制，轮刻 底部帝号标识有被磨去的痕迹

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1700-1900, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4529

Description:

The imperial workshops in Beijing made vases with eight sides like this throughout the 18th century. They were particularly popular during the reign of the Qianlong emperor (1736-1795). A dragon has been carved on the neck of this vase.

Glass, mould-blown, facet-cut
Height: 14.5 cm, diameter: 7.6 cm, neck diameter: 2.3 cm
Four-character mark of Qianlong (1736-1795) with traces of inlaid gold

Chinese Description:

花瓶 中国，清乾隆朝（1736-1795） 八角瓶在乾隆年间(1736-1795) 广为流行，纵观十八世纪，北京清宫玻璃厂都以制作八角瓶为尚。瞧这瓶颈上的龙纹饰。 玻璃，模具吹制，多面刻琢 刻有｢乾隆年制｣四字，并有镶金痕迹。

Creator: Unknown

Date: Qianlong reign period (1736-1795)

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4527

Description:

Vases of this shape were first made during the Yongzheng reign period (1723-1735) and the design was copied in later periods. The glass on this piece is �crizzled�. It is chemically unstable and bits of glass are flaking off. This helps us date it to the early 18th century when the imperial workshops were experimenting with recipes for glass. In 1747 the emperor ordered a pair of transparent blue eight-facetted vases like these to be given to the Panchen Lama, the second most important leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

Glass, mould-blown, facet-cut
Height: 14.8 cm, diameter: 7.5 cm, neck diameter: 2.2 cm

Chinese Description:

花瓶 中国，清朝，约1700-1730 这种形状的花瓶率先在雍正年间（1723-1735）制做，其设计被后代仿效。乾隆十二年(1747年)，乾隆下令制作这样一对透明蓝色的八角瓶赠予西藏佛教居次的领袖 — 班禅喇嘛。 玻璃，模铸吹制， 轮刻

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1700-1730, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4526

Description:

This vase is another example of casing. The black overlay was cut away using a wheel and abrasives to give a geometric design. The famous French glass designer Emile Gall was inspired by the Chinese overlay glass he saw at the Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) in 1872.

Glass, carved in relief
Height: 26.0 cm, diameter: 7.6 cm, neck diameter: 6.7 cm
Four-character mark of Qianlong reign period (1736-1795) in a ground square, but later in date

Chinese Description:

玻璃瓶 中国，清朝，约 1800-1900 工匠将这黑白套料玻璃瓶放于旋转研磨台，运用各种雕刻工具，将黑色表层玻璃琢磨成几何图案，与底层的白玻璃相映衬。1872年，法国玻璃设计师艾美．盖勒(Emile Gallé)看到肯辛顿博物馆(即现时维多利亚博物馆)陈列的套料玻璃，因而引发不少创作灵感。 玻璃，浮雕 方框内刻有「乾隆年制」四字，疑为后人所加

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1800-1900, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4744

Description:

This frosted glass vase was dipped into molten red glass while it was still warm. When it had cooled down, the red layer was carved back using a combination of wheel-cutting, drilling and precision work with hand tools. These were techniques that Chinese craftsmen had used for many years to carve jade.

Glass, carved overlay
Height: 23.3 cm, diameter: 11.2 cm, neck diameter: 4.6 cm

Chinese Description:

红套白玻璃瓶 中国，清朝，约 1800-1900 这套料玻璃瓶雕工精巧，当霜白玻璃胎体尚未冷却，工匠即浇上一层熔融的红色玻璃膏。待两层玻璃胎冷却后，工匠再将之置于旋转轮盘，以各式工具加以钻琢。中国工匠也精于以相类的方法琢磨玉石。 玻璃，套料浮雕

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1800-1900, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4650

Description:

These animals with small heads and snake-like bodies are a kind of dragon. A Chinese saying describes dragons entwined together: ‘entwined dragons going in four directions’ (jiao jie si fang). It refers to the importance of having a network of friends everywhere, something that is particularly useful for business-people.

Glass, carved overlay
Height: 15.0 cm, diameter: 7.0 cm, neck diameter: 5.3 cm

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1700-1800, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4774

Description:

The long-tailed bird and fungus on this vase stand for long life. The crab apple blossom, magnolia and peony make a rebus (visual pun) ‘may you enjoy wealth and honours and halls full of jade (i.e. riches)’.

Glass, carved in relief
Height: 16.8 cm, diameter: 9.0 cm, neck diameter: 4.5 cm
Four-character mark of Qianlong reign (1736-1795), though possibly later in date

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1770-1900, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4772

Description:

The carved design on this vase is the flowering plum tree, pine and bamboo, a popular lucky combination known as the Three Friends of Winter (sui han san you). Plum trees are the first to blossom at the very end of winter, whilst pine and bamboo are evergreen, and together the three trees represent yearly rebirth and long life as well as honesty.

Glass
Height: 23.1 cm, diameter: 10.1 cm, neck diameter: 2.9 cm
Four-character mark of Qianlong reign (1736-1795), but later in date

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1800-1900, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4747

Description:

Frogs and toads appear in many traditional Chinese stories. They are linked with everlasting life and the moon. An old story said that a woman called Chang-e stole the magic potion of immortality from her husband and ran away to the moon where she turned into a toad.

Glass, carved overlay
Height: 19.6 cm, diameter: 5.8 cm, width: 6.0 cm

Creator: Unknown

Date: 1800-1950, Qing dynasty

Copyright: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Object ID:N4715