Description
An 18th-century Chinese porcelain vase, reputed to be the finest of its kind, was sold for $18,000 at the auction of the Mary J. Morgan estate in 1886 in New York. So controversial was the price that William T. Walters never admitted to being the purchaser. Almost immediately, replicas of the vase, like this one, appeared in glass and ceramic. Known as "Peach Blow" or "Morgan" vases, the glass versions by the West Virginian firm of Hobbs, Brockunier and Co. were made with layered glass-red to yellow on the exterior and milky white inside. This example comes with a stand in amber pressed glass, decorated with dragons. The graduated color is the result of a small amount of gold being added to the glass recipe, and the reheating of a portion of the vessel after it is blown.
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