Snuff Bottle thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Snuff Bottle

1796-1820 (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
Materials and techniques
Moulded and painted porcelain with a coloured glass stopper
Brief description
Chinese snuff bottle, moulded porcelain, painted decoration depicts nine lions playing with brocaded balls, Qing Dynasty; 1796-1820.
Physical description
The bottle is a flattened ovoid form with a flared neck and a dome-shaped stopper.
It is made of porcelain, painted in pink, blue, red, yellow and green, moulded as a perforated outer casing over an inner body. The stopper is made of green glass.
The moulded decoration depicts nine lions playing with brocaded balls. There are lappet borders around the shoulder and the base; a key-fret border around the neck and a line of dots around the neck-rim and foot.
The foot has a shallow curved indentation underneath.
Dimensions
  • Bottle only height: 6.6cm
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
Poorly copied Jiaqing (1796-1820) mark in red seal characters.
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.1698-1910

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Record createdAugust 17, 1998
Record URL
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