Please complete the form to email this item.

Snuff bottle

Snuff bottle

  • Place of origin:

    China (made)

  • Date:

    1800-1895 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Glass, opaque white with overlay of red glass, carved in relief

  • Museum number:

    IS.243-1897

  • Gallery location:

    In store

  • Download image

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.

Physical description

The bottle is a rounded flattened flask form, the shoulders sloping up to a cylindrical neck with no stopper.
It is made of glass, opaque white, with white flecks and bubbles, with overlay of red glass carved in relief.
The decoration depicts a bearded man followed by a boy beneath pine and bamboo. On the reverse, 'The woodcutter and the fisherman converse' and there is pine and bamboo overhead.
The high foot is formed by overlay, with high angular indentation underneath.

Place of Origin

China (made)

Date

1800-1895 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Glass, opaque white with overlay of red glass, carved in relief

Dimensions

Height: 5.8 cm

Descriptive line

Glass snuff bottle, opaque white with overlay of red glass carved in relief, China, 19th century

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

White, Helen. Snuff Bottles from China. London: Bamboo Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. 291p., ill. ISBN 1870076109.

Production Note

The original register entry describes this bottle as nineteenth century

Materials

Glass

Techniques

Carving

Subjects depicted

Man; Boy; Bamboo; Pine; Fisherman; Woodcutter

Categories

Containers; Personal accessories; Glass

Collection code

FEC

Download image
Qr_O8181
Ajax-loader