Snuff Bottle
1750-1909 (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 | Chinese snuff bottle, quartz crystal and carnelian, decoration depicts a bearded old man sitting beneath a pine tree, Qing Dynasty; 1750-1909. |
Physical description | The bottle is an elongated flattened flask form curving to a slightly narrower base, with rounded shoulders. It is made of rock crystal, transparent with the inner surface frosted white, with decoration carved in low relief; the stopper of carnelian, or possibly red glass, set in a metal mount. The carving depicts a bearded old man sitting beneath a pine tree, with a bottle gourd on his back. On the reverse, bamboo. The metal mount of the stopper has a serrated upper edge. The bottle has a small oval base with curved indentation underneath and no foot. Pine and bamboo are symbols of long life, and bottle gourds included longevity amongst their connotions since they were traditionally carried by old men on their backs (C.A.S. Williams, Outlines of Chinese symbolism and art motifs, (2nd ed., Shanghai, Kelly and Walsh, 1932), p.215), and by the Taoist immortals to carry magic elixirs (Cammann, 1982, p. 25). |
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.1627&A-1910 |
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Record created | August 5, 1998 |
Record URL |
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