A VIVID BLUE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE WITH AVENTURINEImperial, attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing, 1821-1850 Of rounded form with shoulders sloping to a tall cylindrical neck with a wide mouth, and with a neatly carved oval base, of a vivid sapphire-blue color, suffused with aventurine splashes, the flat base with a four character Daoguang nianzhi mark and of the period; stopper. 2 1/2in (6.2cm) high 1821-1850 寶石藍料灑金鼻煙壺一件 御製 或為北京宮廷作坊製 《道光年製》楷書款 Provenance: C. G. Sloan & Co., November 1989 Joan and Ted Dorf Collection, no. 9 Sapphire-blue and aventurine (or golden star) glass are both colors listed in the imperial archives relating to items ordered by the Zaobanchu. Aventurine (golden star) glass was a popular and innovative color during the Qianlong period and this continued into the nineteenth century. In 1773, the Archives list an order for the Paint and Wood workshop to make a stand for a glass vase of blue golden star color, an indication that thisbination was already a favorite of the court. Whilst eighteenth-century bottles produced in the Palace Workshops tended to be small in size, regardless of material, by the Daoguang period they were slightly larger as is the case here.