Snuff Bottle
1796-1850 (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 | Porcelain with decoration in painted enamels |
Brief description | Chinese snuff bottle; 1796-1850; Qing Dynasty; porcelain with decoration painted in enamels. |
Physical description | The bottle is an oval flattened flask form, the shoulders sloping up to a short cylindrical neck. It does not have a stopper. It is made of porcelain, partly covered in black enamel, the decoration painted in enamel red, green, purple and yellow. The painted decoration depicts a scholar with a boy carrying a zither on his back, both looking up at the moon. On the reverse there is a man with a staff and a basket. The foot has a high indentation underneath. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Credit line | Given by W. G. Gulland, Esq. |
Object history | Given by Mr. W. G. Gulland, accessioned in 1905. 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 | 241-1905 |
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Record created | September 7, 1998 |
Record URL |
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