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 painted in underglaze blue |
| Brief description | Chinese snuff bottle, 1796-1850, Qing dynasty; porcelain, with painted decoration depicting a dragon boat race. |
| Physical description | The bottle is a cylindrical form with convex sides and a short receding neck with a splayed neck-rim. It does noy have a stopper. It is made of porcelain, with decoration painted in underglaze blue. The decoration depicts a dragon boat race and there is a partial debased spearhead border and dots around the neck. The receding foot, unglazed at the edge, has a glazed indentation underneath with a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark in blue regular script. A miniature bottle of the sort often adapted for use as snuff bottles. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | six-character Yongzheng |
| Credit line | Burman Bequest |
| 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 | CIRC.1380-1926 |
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| Record created | September 18, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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