Snuff Bottle
1850-1915 (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 | Opaque white glass, with overlays of pink and dark brown glass |
| Brief description | Snuff bottle, opaque white glass, with overlays of pink and dark brown glass, China, ca.19th century |
| Physical description | The bottle is an oval flattened flask form without a stopper. It is made of opaque white glass, with overlays of pink and dark brown glass. The decoration depicts auspicious symbols, including a fly-whisk and a ruyi sceptre. The splayed foot is formed by both overlays, with an indentation underneath. Some of the carving is in very low relief, similar to that found on the so-called Yangzhou seal bottles. Since these are datable to the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, this bottle can be dated in the same way. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | H. L. Florence Bequest |
| 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.1279-1917 |
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| Record created | June 17, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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