controlled to plastic coffee mugs create shading

 The Chinese enjoyed making convincing imitations of highly valued minerals as a demonstration of their skill. There are even portraits that are so well done that they just look as good as black and white photographs! . Imperial yellow I have already mentioned that a wide range of colors was used for glass bottles. The `Imperial Yellow' bottle pictured is well carved with an archaic design on both sides and is of the period 1736 - 1795. Most of the glass bottles purposely made for inside painting are much larger than this crystal one. Cameo glass They considered it as a valuable material and excelled in producing very fine works of art. He has painted inside a rock crystal bottle, a scene of Buddhist Lions with a poem on the reverse. I think that this one is quite remarkable, as the interior space is so limited, it is hard to imagine how such a beautiful painting was achieved on one surface without completely ruining the other. (*See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article). There has been a view in the past that the Chinese made these as fakes with the intention to deceive. On each side there is a bowl of fruit on a table and on the reverse is another scene of a drunken poet asleep in a garden. Some of the paintings achieved however are hard to believe possible. Under magnification little holes on the surface that could not be polished out and tiny bubbles would be seen proving it must be glass. It originally would have been a rather poorly made double bottle. It has also been suggested that apart from mixing in metals, even small particles of precious gemstones such as Sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies were added to the molten glass. A continuous scene of fish amongst aquatic plants was painted in red, gold, pink; white, green and grisaille dated 1896 and signed Chu Chan-Yuan. This layer was a thin colorful one, sandwiched by yet a third clear layer that was also blown in. It shows a coiled `Chih Lung' or dragon on both sides; also having mythological animal mask and mock ring handles on each shoulder 1750 - 1860.The first bottles we decided to buy that were not carved out of stone were made of glass. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article). Such colors as sapphire blue and ruby red seem to have been the most popular of the earliest ones. Most of the really fine snuff bottles were made in the Imperial Workshop and other small glass works around Peking. Although these were made in the same way, the overlay is far more delicately carved and often even the thickness of the overlay is controlled to plastic coffee mugs create shading. The Chinese had little use for glass prior to the 17th century mainly because of their highly refined porcelain skills. The problem is that glass has been used throughout the whole snuff bottle period right up to the present day. The vast majority however are in specially designed glass bottles of a uniform shape. A huge range of glass bottles is to be found in all shapes and colors as well as a variety of manufacturing techniques. There is no doubt that their advanced knowledge acquired in firing porcelain, and how metallic oxides react, was put to good use in glass. Not all bottles of this color really are Imperial as after his death this color was available to all. When looking down at the neck of one of these bottles you can clearly see these three layers. So far, I have never seen any on the clear or snowflake backgrounds. Stone imitations With such expertise the Chinese were able to make astounding imitations of other materials. Creating many unusual bottles ranging from transparent to white as backgrounds for color overlay work. With transparent bottles the inside could be controlled and made to appear crazed as these names suggest - Cracked Ice, Fish Net or Sea Spray. These bottles would then be dipped into bright colored molten glass which later would be carved away to leave a cameo style of design. Lastly, glass unlike the stones can be scratched quite easily by steel. Many of these were quite complex in the way they were made: some were blown into moulds then finished by hand; others involved blowing a clear glass into a mould but then another layer was blown inside the first bottle. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article). For our own collection I felt that we should have one or two examples and I was lucky enough to buy the earliest known, dated and signed inside painted bottle by Kan Huan-Wen. I do not know if the damaged half that has been removed was done so before it was painted, but I believe that it would have been. This bottle is signed and dated 1822. They had no glass windows, favoring translucent paper. I am sure that this was not the case, as it was far too easy to find them out by careful inspection. Another technique was to apply to different areas of the bottle colored molten blobs of glass. This crystal has a natural flaw in the stone that adds to the under water appeal of this picture. Particular attention was given to the feel of the finished material, which was achieved by the type of polishing and even the weight Plastic Frosted Cups was controlled by the addition of lead. They were made later and date back from the second half of the 19th century. They normally used opaque white bottles as the background but some were also worked on other opaque colors. Layers of glass Apart from these overlay types there are many interesting mottled, swirling and colorful designs as well as the plain color bottles, both uncarved and carved. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article). There is a group of rather special, very finely worked overlay bottles known as the `Seal School' because they always include a seal with the design. When these were carved the bottle could have up to as many as eight different colors cameo carved without increasing the number of layers. Some were dipped more than once to provide more than one colored layer. He is one of the first well-known artist and highly respected. Sometimes they treated it just like a stone and carved bottles out of a solid piece, otherwise they blew glass into moulds. There are many bottles that look and feel just like Jade, Aquamarine, Agate and other stones. Much more research is needed in order to date these bottles, but it is generally now agreed that glass and metal bottles were the earliest materials to be used. I have selected a ruby red single overlay as a good example to photograph. Once snuff was put into them the picture would not show up well, and the spoon would soon ruin the painting. What really should be valued is the quality of the carving and the overall design. One other mineral cleverly copied was Realgar with its bright red and yellow swirling colors, impossible to use because of a high arsenic content, so these copies would have caused a lot of intrigue. We are not sure if glass had been used centuries earlier in China but it was certainly introduced to them by Europeans in good time for snuff bottles. I have only a couple of examples in the collection, as I do not generally favor them as in my view they were never made for use. To assess these bottles the color is a consideration but great attention is paid just as with stone cameo carving, to the quality of the carving and especially to how well the background is finished close to the edge of the overlay. I should also explain that they did not restrict inside painting to glass but have applied the same techniques to Crystal and Chalcedony. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article). Quality counts To a connoisseur, the number of colors or layers is not so very important, as it was not such a difficult process and a far softer material to carve than stone. Quite often a wonderfully carved and well-designed single color overlay will be worth far more than a multicolor but poorly finished bottle. The dragon is a birth sign used rather like our zodiac signs. This was a very badly hollowed out bottle, of little value, before it was painted. Later we acquired another rock crystal example, and these two are the only inside painted bottles that we have. The photograph* shows a fine seal school bottle depicting a pair of cats at play with hovering insects amongst the flowers. However the Emperor Chien-Lung had a favorite color that he decreed could only be used by the Imperial family and this was an opaque shade of yellow that is now referred to as `Imperial Yellow'. What is remarkable is that through such a tiny hole in the neck they could paint on the inside landscapes, animals, calligraphy and even portraits. To my mind it is the fact that it was so poorly hollowed that makes the painting even more amazing! Have a look at the photograph. Painted on the inside There remains one other area of glass bottles that really amazes everyone, these being the `Inside painted' bottles. In order for the image to show through the glass the painting had to be done in reverse, all such fine details as the eyelashes for example, had to be painted first! All of these bottles are signed by the artist and many, some very attractive ones too, are still being made today. A true `Imperial Yellow' bottle must be one from his period and that can only be confirmed by the quality of the bottle and the carving. A variety of colors were successfully used, together with gold in the creation of snuff bottles. They were also able to control bubbles and by the addition of white flecks in the glass, colors such as these apt names suggest were created: - Sodden Snow, Camphor, and Snowflakes