B65

Glass, bright blue colour with small speckled inclusions of gold stone glass, possibly imitating lapis lazuli; the body of bulbous form with a flared neck.

Chinese, 1720-1800
Stopper: rose quartz with blue finial
Provenance: Hugh Moss Ltd, London, 1976

Lapis lazuli had been available to Chinese lapidaries for a long time before the advent of the snuff bottle, and it was only natural that the Chinese would want to imitate it, as lapis was expensive. The glass workshops were becoming extremely adept at copying materials, indeed some of the imitations of jade are very believable, but in this case it would be a quick flash of the blue bottle which would suggest to the unsuspecting onlooker that it may be lapis!