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Snuff bottle

Snuff bottle

  • Place of origin:

    China (made)

  • Date:

    1796-1820 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Moulded and painted porcelain with a coloured glass stopper

  • Credit Line:

    Salting Bequest

  • Museum number:

    C.1699-1910

  • Gallery location:

    On Display

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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 ovoid form with a flared neck and a flat-topped stopper.
It is made of porcelain, painted in red, green, blue, yellow and pink moulded as a perforated outer casing over an inner body. The stopper is made of lime-green glass.
The moulded decoration depicts the Eight Buddhist Emblems and there are lappet borders around the shoulder and the base.
Around the neck there is a key-fret border and a line of dots around the neck-rim and foot.
The foot has a shallow curved indentation underneath and a poorly copied Jiaqing (1796-1820) mark in red seal characters.

Place of Origin

China (made)

Date

1796-1820 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Moulded and painted porcelain with a coloured glass stopper

Marks and inscriptions

Jiaqing mark

Dimensions

Height: 6.3 cm bottle only

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

Porcelain; Glass

Techniques

Painting (image-making); Moulding

Subjects depicted

Buddhism; Key pattern

Categories

Containers; Ceramics; Personal accessories

Collection code

EAS

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Qr_O8852
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