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Snuff bottle

Snuff bottle

  • Place of origin:

    China (made)

  • Date:

    1821-1850 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Porcelain painted in enamel colours, with gilding

  • Credit Line:

    Bequeathed by Mrs A. B. Woodcroft

  • Museum number:

    412-1903

  • Gallery location:

    On Display

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Snuff is powdered tobacco, usually blended with aromatic herbs or spices. The habit of snuff-taking spread to China from the West during the 17th century and became established in the 18th century. People generally carried snuff in a small bottle. By the 20th century these bottles had become collectors' items, owing to the great variety of materials and decorative techniques used in their production.

Physical description

The bottle is a cylindrical form made of porcelain and painted in enamel colours, green, red, yellow, blue, brown, black and pink. There is gilding on the flat upper surface of the neck rim and no stopper.
The painted decoration depicts the Empress Wu Zetain from an illustration in Wu shuang pu, 'A Register of the Incomparable'. The inscription is a contracted version of her biography in that publication.
The body of the bottle slops towards a sharp foot with a high curved indentation underneath.

Place of Origin

China (made)

Date

1821-1850 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Porcelain painted in enamel colours, with gilding

Marks and inscriptions

Daoguang mark in red
A contracted version of the biography of the Empress Wu Zetain taken from the biography of her in Wu shuang pu, 'A Register of the Incomparable'.

Dimensions

Height: 8.1 cm

Descriptive line

Chinese snuff bottle, porcelain, depicting the Empress Wu Zetian, Qing, 1821-1850.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

White, Helen. Snuff Bottles from China. London: Bamboo Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. 291p., ill. ISBN 1870076109.

Materials

Porcelain; Enamel

Techniques

Painted

Subjects depicted

Wu, Zetian

Categories

Containers; Ceramics; Personal accessories

Collection code

EAS

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Qr_O11866
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