Cer, China, Qing, glass

The bottle is a slender cylindrical form, narrower towards the base, the shoulders sloping up to a splayed neck. It has dome-shaped stopper.
The bottle is made of glass, green, with carved decoration; the stopper of blue glass with carved decoration.
The carved decoration on the bottle depicts five bats among clouds; the stopper has an archaic scroll decoration and a finial.
There is no foot but a flat base with a slightly curved indentation underneath.
The glass is coloured to imitate aquamarine and is of good quality, not having been cooled too quickly. It has been well carved with a shallow frosted line.
The glass and workmanship of the stopper are not of such high quality.
The monochrome carving in imitation of aquamarine in this unusually elongated bottle suggests a relatively early date. The stopper may be a replacement for the original but dates from before 1895, when both the stopper and the bottle entered the Museum.

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.1686-1910