Snuff Bottle
1821-1900 (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 | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Brief description | Chinese snuff bottle, 1821-1900, Qing Dynasty; porcelain, with painted decoration depicting a dragon chasing a pearl amid flames. |
| Physical description | The bottle is a flattened flask form with a gradated stopper. It is made of porcelain, painted in green, red, yellow and black and gilded. The stopper of ivory. The decoration depicts a five-clawed dragon chasing a pearl amid flames; the same on the reverse. The design is enclosed by a line of gilding edged in red at the base of the neck and a line of red at the top of the foot. The bottle has a high foot, unglazed at the edge, with a high indentation underneath. |
| Style | |
| Credit line | Marie Dumergue Bequest |
| Object history | Bequeathed by Mrs. Marie Adeline Dumergue, accessioned in 1912. 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.96&A-1912 |
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| Record created | September 10, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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