Snuff Bottle
1850-1880 (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.
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| Materials and techniques | Dark red glass bottle, with stopper set in metal |
| Brief description | Snuff bottle, dark red glass with stopper of dark red glass set in metal, China, 1850-1880 |
| Physical description | The bottle is an oblong flattened flask form, rounded at the shoulders and the base.The neck appears to be elongated by an extension and it is made of dark red glass. The dome-shaped stopper is made of dark red glass set in metal. The base is flat and oval base without a foot. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Purchased from Professor Lessing (Kunstgewerbe Museum Berlin), accessioned in 1880. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. Bought, Kunstgewerbe Museum Berlin per Prof Lessing;; |
| Production | The original register entry states that the bottle was 'Fashioned in Pekin from material prepared in Shantung' and is nineteenth-century. |
| 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 | 428-1880 |
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| Record created | June 11, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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