Snuff Bottle
1750-1895 (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 | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Brief description | Scu, China, carving, chalcedony Scu, China, carving, chalcedony |
| Physical description | The bottle is a rounded flattened flask form with a stopper in flattened dome shape. It is made of chalcedony, grey with brown inclusions, with carved decoration. The stopper is of jadeite jade set in metal. The decoration depicts a bearded man seated on a rocky outcrop; behind him to the left is a child; both are looking up at a crane in flight. On the reverse there is a magic fungus and a bat. The high foot has an angular indentation underneath. The brown inclusions determine the placing of the carved decoration, down to the two brown specks used as the eyes of the bat. The carved decoration probably depicts the poet Lin Bu, also known as Lin Hejing, who lived from 967 A.D. to 1028 A.D., and on his death was given the title hejing chushu, 'recluse of harmonious tranquility', by the emperor Renzong (Craig Clunas, 'Human figures in the decoration of Ming lacquer', Oriental Art, New Series 32, No. 2 (Summer 1986), pp. 177-188). Plum blossom, usually present in Ming period depictions of Lin Bu, is missing from the scene. The contemporary social significance of this literary theme on a snuff bottle is difficult to determine without knowing how widespread understanding of the allusion would have been at various periods. However it is clear that the decoration on the bottle was intended for a Chinese consumer to whom it would have meant something beyond a simple narrative picture. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Salting Bequest |
| Object history | Bequeathed by Mr. George Salting, accessioned in 1910. 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 | C.1793&A-1910 |
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| Record created | July 21, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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