Please complete the form to email this item.

Snuff bottle

Snuff bottle

  • Place of origin:

    China (made)

  • Date:

    1800-1895 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Smoky quartz with carved details

  • Credit Line:

    Salting Bequest

  • Museum number:

    C.1819-1910

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

  • Download image

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.

Physical description

The bottle is a flattened oblong form, the surfaces straight and regular, with the shoulders sloping upwards slightly to a cylindrical neck. The neck-hole is wide in relation to the overall width of neck and there is no stopper.
The bottle is made of smoky quartz, dark brown with light brown areas, with carved details.
There is a raised flat rectangular panel on each side of the bottle.
The foot is high, angular and oblong with a rectangular indentation underneath.
The natural markings of the stone on the side illustrated suggest a landscape with trees and the moon. The bottle is carved in an angular and geometric manner, and has a glassy finish. The severely rectangular shape suggests a nineteenth century date.

Place of Origin

China (made)

Date

1800-1895 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Smoky quartz with carved details

Dimensions

Height: 6.6 cm

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

White, Helen. Snuff Bottles from China. London: Bamboo Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. 291p., ill. ISBN 1870076109.

Materials

Quartz

Techniques

Carving

Subjects depicted

Trees; Landscapes (representations); Moon

Categories

Containers; Personal accessories

Collection code

EAS

Download image
Qr_O8769
Ajax-loader