Lot 3793. A rare imperial opaque white glass vase, Qianlong engraved four-character mark within double-square and of the period (1736-1795); 8 in. (17 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 350,000 - HKD 500,000. Price Realized HKD 500,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

Made in imitation of 'mutton fat' white jade with several milky-white inclusions, the domed body rising to a cylindrical neck with a lipped rim supported on a neatly cut ring foot, box.

Note: There is a long history of making glass decorative objects and vessels in imitation of nephrite dating back to the Han dynasty. A greenish-white glass hexagonal cup from the Cunliffe and Walter and Phyllis Shorenstein Collections dating to the 15th-16th century, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 2911, where a Qianlong marked opaque white glass vase sold as lot 2920. A number of white glass vessels imitating jade where included in the exhibition, A Chorus of Colours: Chinese Glass from Three American Collections, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1995, and illustrated in the Catalogue, nos. 17, 18, 21, 54, 55, 57, 58 and 59 in addition to those sold from the Shorenstein Collection.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 June 2011, Convention Hall