Snuff Bottle
1800-1880 (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 | |
Materials and techniques | Opaque greyish-white glass, with overlay of green glass carved in relief |
Brief description | Snuff bottle, overlay glass, green on white, birds and lotus plants |
Physical description | The bottle is a rounded flattened flask form with no stopper. It is made of glass, opaque greyish-white, with overlay of green glass carved in relief. The decoration consists of a continuous design of lotus plants, birds and water. There is no separate foot but instead a cradle of waves formed by the overlay and an angular indentation underneath. |
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 this bottle was 'Fashioned in Pekin from material prepared in Shantung (Shandong)' and is nineteenth-century. |
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 | 425-1880 |
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Record created | July 10, 1998 |
Record URL |
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