Snuff Bottle thumbnail 1

Snuff Bottle

1890-1908 (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
Transparent grey glass, painted inside in black, blue, white, green and brown
Brief description
Cer, China, Qing, GLASS, INSIDE-PAINTED
Physical description
This object is a double bottle consisting of two oblong flattened flask form bottles with raised panels on each exposed surface and shoulders curving to wide cylindrical necks. They are made of glass, transparent grey, painted inside in black, blue, white, green and brown.
Each bottle has a dome-shaped stopper made of green glass.
The decoration depicts a landscape scene with buildings and an inscription meaning 'Painted by Lesan' (or 'Yuesan'). There is a figure in a landscape and an inscription 'Painted in the Pure Bamboos Studio'. On the reverse there are butterflies and flowers; a grasshopper on a cabbage leaf, with another plant, perhaps nadina, behind.
The high foot is solid underneath.
Dimensions
  • Height: 5.4cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • (Chinese)
    Translation
    'Painted in the Pure Bamboos Studio'
  • (Chinese)
    Translation
    'Painted by Lesan'
Credit line
Given by Charles Lund, Esq.
Object history
Given by Mr. Charles Lund, accessioned in 1908. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
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
558-1908

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Record createdJuly 10, 1998
Record URL
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