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Snuff bottle

Snuff bottle

  • Place of origin:

    China (made)

  • Date:

    1750-1895 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Transparent glass with bubbles and an overlay of red glass, carved in relief

  • Credit Line:

    Salting Bequest

  • Museum number:

    C.1663-1910

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

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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 an oval flattened flask form with no stopper,
It is made of glass, transparent, with bubbles and an overlay of red glass carved in relief.
The decoration depicts a horse standing on a rock beneath a pine tree, whinnying, its mane and tail flared. On the reverse there is a horse on a rock beside magic fungus, its head and tail down, its ribs and spine prominent. There are clouds overhead.
The fat horse and the hungry horse were a subject used in painting as early as the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) to represent different attitudes to official duty.
For Kong Kai (1222-1307) the hungry horse represents the official who suffers for his refusal to serve under the new Mongol dynasty; for Ren Renfa (1255-1328) the hungry horse is the self-sacrificing official who accepts office under the Mongols and works hard, while the fat horse is the prosperous official who uses his position to enrich himself (Cahil, 1976, pp155-6). By the time the theme was used on this snuff bottle the decoration would probably have lost its Yuan period political connotations, and simply illustrate the contrast between corrupt and honest officialdom. While it is difficult to be precise about the significance of artistic and literary themes at different periods, this bottle was probably designed for a buyer who wished to be known as a person of scholarly taste.

Place of Origin

China (made)

Date

1750-1895 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Transparent glass with bubbles and an overlay of red glass, carved in relief

Dimensions

Height: 5.4 cm

Descriptive line

Glass snuff bottle, transparent, with bubbles and an overlay of red glass carved in relief, China, ca.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.

Materials

Glass

Techniques

Carving

Subjects depicted

Horse; Clouds; Rock; Pine; Fungus

Categories

Containers; Personal accessories; Glass

Collection code

EAS

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Qr_O8194
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