{"product_id":"ruby-crackle-glass-moon-flask-chinese-taste-applied-ring-handles-c-1950-1970","title":"Ruby Crackle Glass Moon Flask, Chinese-Taste Applied Ring Handles, c. 1950–1970","description":"\u003ch4 dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eA flattened globular vessel in deep ruby glass, hand-blown and finished with a craquelle surface — the fracture network suspended within the wall rather than cut upon it. The body swells to a broad, nearly circular face on both sides before drawing sharply into a short cylindrical neck with an everted, flat-topped lip. Two solid ring handles are applied at the shoulder, one to either side, in the manner of the bronze prototypes the form descends from. A thick pedestal foot lifts the piece off the surface; the underside is ground and polished, the pontil worked flat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eHeld to a window the color reads oxblood at the shoulders and clear scarlet across the thinner center of each face, the crackle catching light as a fine web rather than a flaw.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 dir=\"ltr\"\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe silhouette is the \u003cem\u003ebianhu\u003c\/em\u003e — the flattened pilgrim flask carried in bronze from the Han dynasty forward and revived continually in Chinese ceramic and glass across the Qing period and after. The paired ring handles at the neck are the surviving memory of a cord: on the bronze original they were functional, on later decorative interpretations they are quotation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe craquelle technique is older still and independent of that lineage — a hot vessel plunged briefly into cold water to shatter the surface, then reheated and reblown so the fractures seal into the glass. Venetian \u003cem\u003eghiaccio\u003c\/em\u003e glass used it in the sixteenth century; it returned to broad favor in the mid-twentieth, when Chinese and Chinese-export workshops supplied Western decorators with saturated colored glass in classical Asian forms. This piece belongs to that mid-century production: hand-blown, unmarked, in the Chinese taste rather than of a documented workshop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAcquired by Viridian Eclection from a private Northern Nevada estate. No maker's mark is present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 dir=\"ltr\"\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003cthead\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"col\"\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"col\"\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCategory\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eAsian \u0026amp; Chinoiserie Glass\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHand-blown craquelle (crackle) glass, ruby\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTechnique\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFree-blown, applied ring handles, ground and polished pontil\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOrigin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eChinese taste; likely China or Chinese export\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePeriod\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMid-twentieth century, c. 1950–1970\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e[height] H × [width] W × [depth] D\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eExcellent. Crackle is integral to the technique and not damage. Light interior haze and a whitish mineral deposit within the neck from prior use. Minor dark surface residue to the underside of the foot. No chips, cracks, or losses observed to rim, handles, or foot.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePrivate Northern Nevada estate\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch4 dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eRuby glass is a decision, not a neutral. Set alone on a walnut console or a stone mantel it does the work of a painting — a single saturated note against a quiet ground — and the crackle keeps it from reading as slick or new. The flattened form wants a shallow shelf or a niche where its face can be seen straight on; the handles reward being seen from the side. Left empty it is sculpture. Given three bare branches in winter it becomes something closer to an argument for the season.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47914348118121,"sku":null,"price":234.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/347B10B9-D23A-4B32-B57A-E3C1CCA8B9EA_4_5005_c.jpg?v=1787099722","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/ruby-crackle-glass-moon-flask-chinese-taste-applied-ring-handles-c-1950-1970","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}