This is a splendid example of a Chinese cast and relief-cut glass figure of a civic official. The civic official is depicted on his knees, and he is holding a torch with both hands. Details of the figure are obtained through a combination of casting and cutting the glass, reflecting the skills of the artisan who made it. The transparency and clearness of the glass, as well as the way it has been worked, immediately recall the beauty of natural rock-crystal, which Chinese glassmakers were trying to imitate with clear glass. The intensity of this type of colourless glass can be easily understood by the words of the Chinese poet Wang Shizhen, who described it as “clear as crystal, red as flame”.
The piece is in very good conditions with no signs of damage. Comparable examples can be found in rock crystals, for example in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum.