China, 1735-1796. Swirled together of brilliant, fiery orange and yellow-ochre opaque glass to resemble the realgar mineral, the cylindrical body rising from recessed foot with a circular foot ring. The recessed foot with a wheel-cut four-character mark Qianlong nianzhi within a double square and of the period.

Provenance: Swiss trade, acquired from a private estate in Zurich, Switzerland.
Condition: Excellent condition with some notable wear, minor traces of usage, and expected manufacturing irregularities.

Weight: 619.6 g
Dimensions: Height 10.8 cm

The naturalistic pattern achieved on realgar glass makes vessels of this type attractive and unique. Hugh Moss and Gerard Tsang in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, op. cit., p. 126, note that the “swirling patterns visible at the surface of this vessel are full of possibilities for the imaginative mind. It may read as a landscape, drifting incense smoke or a variety of strange living creatures, but it also represents the endlessly changing patterns of energy from which all phenomena emanate in the Chinese view, particularly expressed by Daoism. To the Daoist scholar it would be a work of art of subtle complexity and endless fascination, to be enjoyed like incense smoke as a meditative aid.”

Realgar (xiong huang), found in the southern provinces of China, was believed to contain the essence of gold and, possibly for this reason, became a source of fascination despite its poisonous qualities. It is believed that it was mixed in drugs used by Daoists in their quest for the elixir of immortality. It is the Daoist alchemy that made realgar popular to the extent that despite the material's highly toxic nature and its soft crumbly texture, which does not lend itself to the artisans' tools without great difficulties, realgar was used for the carving of Daoist figures. For example, a realgar sculpture of the Immortal He Xian Gu, in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in R. Soame Jenyns, Chinese Art, The Minor Arts, II, London, 1965, pl. 200.

The attractiveness of realgar inspired copies to be made in glass such as the present brushpot. Richard John Lynn in 'Technical aspects and Connoisseurship of Snuff Bottles: Late Traditional Chinese Sources', JICSBS, Summer, 1995, p. 8, mentions Zhou Jixu, a late Qing connoisseur, who believed that realgar glass was among the earliest types of glass made at the Qing Imperial Glassworks. Production continued throughout the 18th and well into the 19th century, creating endless variations of color and composition.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 December 2021, lot 2993
Price: HKD 1,000,000 or approx. EUR 130,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small ‘imitation-realgar’ glass mallet vase, Qianlong four-character wheel-cut mark within a double square and of the period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related swirled pattern of ‘realgar’ and the similar size (9.5 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 5 March 2021, lot 15
Price: EUR 9,480 or approx. EUR 11,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An imperial ‘realgar’ glass mallet vase, Qianlong mark and period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related swirled pattern of ‘realgar’. Note the size (15.6 cm).