Scu, China, carving, chalcedony

The bottle is a squarish flattened flask form with no stopper. Stopper is shown attached to 917-1903 in Snuff Bottles catalogue.
It is made of chalcedony, brown with creamy white skin, with decoration carved in relief.
The carving depicts a peony growing from a rock and a feng-huang (Chinese phoenix). On the reverse there is a toad on a rock with vapour issuing from its mouth in which there are two bats; three more bats to the left.
The high splayed foot has a shallow angular indentation underneath.
The creamy white skin is carved in relief to form the decoration and forms a striking contrast to the background colour; there is no background carving.

Salting Bequest

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.

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.

C.1786-1910