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Snuff bottle

Snuff bottle

  • Place of origin:

    China (made)

  • Date:

    1850-1909 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Opaque white glass, with overlay of red glass carved in low relief

  • Credit Line:

    Salting Bequest

  • Museum number:

    C.1570-1910

  • 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 large flattened pear form with no stopper.
It is made of glass, opaque white, with overlay of red glass carved in low relief.
The decoration depicts two boys, one climbing a wutong tree and holding a lotus plant. There is also an enclosed two-character seal 'Ziyun'.
On the reverse the carving depicts the alchemist Zhang Qian in his log raft. On one shoulder there are two bats and on the other a pavilion amid clouds.
The high foot is partly formed by red overlay, with indentation underneath.
It is an unusually large example of a seal-type bottle. The neck rim lacks the conventional flat surface on which the stopper would sit. The Chinese word for lotus, lian, is a homonym for that meaning 'successive', so the side of the bottle illustrated conveys a wish for many sons.

Place of Origin

China (made)

Date

1850-1909 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Opaque white glass, with overlay of red glass carved in low relief

Marks and inscriptions

'Ziyun'

Dimensions

Height: 9.1 cm

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

Birds; Trees; Boy; Clouds; Lotus; Pavilions (garden structures); Bat (animal); Rafts; Zhang Qian

Categories

Containers; Personal accessories; Glass

Collection code

FEC

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Qr_O8279
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