Snuff Bottle thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Snuff Bottle

1850-1850 (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
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • SNUFF BOTTLE
  • STOPPER
Materials and techniques
Glass, overlay
Brief description
Snuff bottle with green and pink glass overlaid on white
Physical description
Bulbous oval flask form, slightly flattened; dome-shaped stopper that does not belong to bottle; stopper acquired with this bottle was a flattish ivory cap.
Glass, opaque greyish white, with green and pink glass decoration appplied, in the form of a flowering branch.
Dimensions
  • Height: 6.5cm
Credit line
Boone Bequest
Object history
Bequeathed by Mr. Thomas Boone, per Mrs. Temple, accessioned in 1903. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
Subject 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
917&A-1903

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Record createdMarch 5, 2003
Record URL
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