Snuff Bottle
1760-1909 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
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.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved jade, probably nephrite jade, white with a slight green hue |
| Brief description | Scu, China, carving, jade |
| Physical description | The bottle is in the form of a flattened cube with a short cylindrical neck and no stopper. It is carved from jade, probably nephrite jade, white with a slight green hue. The decoration depicts four characters enclosed in a border on each side. Illustrated on the side is 'Yue ming ru shi meaning 'The moon shines as bright as the water". On the other side 'Feng nong zhu sheng' meaning 'The wind makes the bamboo sigh'. The bottle has a high rectangular foot with high indentation underneath. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Salting Bequest |
| Object history | Bequeathed by Mr. George Salting, accessioned in 1910. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | 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. |
| Bibliographic reference | White, Helen. Snuff Bottles from China. London: Bamboo Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. 291p., ill. ISBN 1870076109. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.1856-1910 |
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| Record created | February 3, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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