Snuff Bottle
1750-1850 (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 | |
Materials and techniques | Green glass, with carved decoration in relief |
Brief description | Snuff bottle, glass coloured green with carved decoration in relief, China, 1750-1850 |
Physical description | The bottle is a rounded flattened flask form without a stopper. It is made of glass, coloured dark green to imitate jade, with relief decoration. The decoration depicts catfish amid waves spouting a pavilion, and a bat. On the reverse is a crane carrying a rod in its mouth flying over a pavilion on waves, and a bat. The bottle does not have a separate foot but there is an indentation underneath. The monochrome carved glass suggests a relatively early date. The fish spouting a pavilion may represent shen shi ,'Sea-monster market', the Chinese title of which closely resembles sheng shi, meaning success (Eberhard, p. 227). |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
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.1685-1910 |
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Record created | June 10, 1998 |
Record URL |
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