SERENDIPITY Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate. The word derives from Serendip, the old Persian name for Sri Lanka, and was coined by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754 in a letter he wrote to his friend Horace Mann (not the same man as the famed American educator), an Englishman then living in Florence. The letter read, "It was once when I read a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of them discovered that a camel blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right-now do you understand serendipity?" Isn't it interesting that the word was coined around the same time that snuff bottles were coming into fashion. Please find here some of our serendipitous discoveries! PLEASE CLICK ON EACH MATERIAL (GLASS ENAMEL JADE ETC) TO VIEW THE WHOLE COLLECTION For further information and prices please contact us Glass Enamel Jade Quartz Other Hardstone Organic Ceramic Inside Painted
	124. Glass, of semi opaque material with realgar splashes creating a lively swirling design around the centre of the bottle 1730-1780 Height: 5.6cm
	125. Glass, green with bubbles and sparkles, the lower half with yellow swirls topped with maroon splashes 18th Century Height: 5.3cm
	128. Glass, the bubble suffused material with yellow overlay carved each side with a pair of stylized confronting dragons surrounding a central shou medallion, the footrim also carved from the yellow overlay 18th Century Height: 6.2cm Illustrated: Hugh Moss, Snuff Bottles of CHina, 1971, page 113 no 221 Provenance: Harry Ross
	129. Glass, mottled red on a yellow ground, in imitation of realgar 18th Century Height: 5.7cm Realgar glass seems to have been among the earliest colours produced at the Court. Realgar glass bearing the Yongzheng reign mark remains in the Imperial collection in Beijing, and there is a set of ten realgar glass cups purchased in China and brought back to Europe on the ‘Kronprins Christian’ in 1732. Plain realgar glass snuff bottles like these were made in large numbers throughout the 18th century, a large proportion of them apparently at the court to be distributed as gifts. For the Chinese, the bright red of realgar is representative of the male ‘yang’ element; the yellow represents the female ‘yin’ element. Intermingled in the body of a presentation snuff bottle (one intended as a gift), these two colours convey the wish for a happy marriage-with the red element dominating to produce many sons.
	20. Glass, deep ruby red with white overlay carved in low relief with Huang Chengyan on a donkey in search of prunus blossom, the reverse with a solitary figure in a pavilion; the sides carved with dragons in place of mask ring handles, the foot and neck also carved from the white overlay. Yangzhou School, 1800-1880 Height: 6.4cm Yangzhou school bottles are carved in low relief and usually with great delicacy. They often bear the seals of studios or artists and some are known with cyclical dates. Yangzhou is a district in Jiangsu, and in the nineteenth century it was a prosperous commercial centre which supported its own artistic community. Among those active at this period was a group of painters known as the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, with a more pictorial style, than had hitherto been regarded as acceptable. The subjects portrayed on the snuff bottles of this group are very much in the style of those artists. This example being white overlay on deep ruby red is extremely rare.
	58. Glass, light green with black overlay carved with trigrams surrounding a central ying yang symbol; the base with an oval footrim carved from the black overlay. 1800-1880 Height: 5.1cm Apart from being a powerful design visually, the yin/yang dichotomy is symbolically one of the most powerful of all Chinese designs. The yin/yang symbol represents the entire structure of belief. Within the circle which represents unified, undifferentiated oneness, are two similarly shaped interlocking units which represent duality- the basic fragments of all other fragments.
	138. Glass, speckled white ground with a red overlay carved with writhing chi dragons clutching at ruyi fungus, the base rim carved from the overlay 18th Century Height: 6.1cm
	139. Glass bubble suffused with light red overlay depicting a figure crossing a bridge with attandant behind, the reverse with a bamboo grove behind a bridge. 18th Century Height: 7cm
	140. Glass, red overlay on a clear ground carved with confronting archaic dragons surrounding a central shou medallion, the shoulders with floral motifs in place of mask and ring handles 18th Century Height: 5.4cm
	142. Glass, imperial yellow one side carved with crab emerging from a basket, the reverse with a grasshopper perched on an aubergine 18th Century Height: 7.1cm (The antennae of the grasshopper has been repaired)
	84. Glass, opaque white with red overlay carved each side with an orchid emerging from a rocky outcrop, the tall elegant shape of the bottle forming the perfect background for the tall orchid 18th Century Height: 7.5cm The orchid has been associated with the high integrity of the gentleman since the poetry of Qu Yuan (third to fourth century BC) and it was sometimes painted uprooted from its nuturing soil as a subtle accusation from Yuan artists against the conquering barbarians.
	112. Glass, clear with ruby red overlay carved with lively dragons 1780-1850 Height: 6.6cm
	99. Glass,white with brown and red inclusions set in abstract patterns 1800-1880 Height: 5cm
	110. Glass, snowflake ground with blue overlay carved with curling fish 1800-1880 Height: 7cm
	79. Glass; translucent ruby red, undecorated in basket form. 18th Century Height: 6.6cm
	35. Glass, dark blue overlay on a clear ground, carved with flowering prunus and peony 18th Century Height: 5.8cm
	113. Glass, bubble suffused with a light green overlay suffused with maroon streaks carved with writhing dragons 18th Century Height: 6.1cm
	101. Glass, bubble suffused light green going to white, with black carbon inclusions; the bottle of rounded flattened form 1780-1850 Height: 6.2cm
	10. Glass,opaque olive green carved in relief each side with fish; the sides carved with mask and ring handles. 1780-1850 Height: 5.4cm