Snuff Bottle
1736-1795 (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 | Painted enamels on copper |
| Brief description | Chinese snuff bottle, 1736-1795, Qing dynasty; copper, with decoration in painted enamels, depicting peonies, rocks and chrysanthemums |
| Physical description | The bottle is an elongated oval flattened flask form with shoulders sloping up to a slightly splayed neck. It does not have a stopper. It is formed of painted enamels on copper, famille rose colours, the copper exposed at the neck and the foot. The decoration depicts peonies and rocks and on the reverse, chrysanthemums and rocks; continuous yellow ground with a lappet border at the neck in blue and purple; blue band around the base. The splayed oval foot, with and indentation underneath, enamelled white. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by Brig. Leslie H. Aste |
| 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 | FE.64-1970 |
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| Record created | September 26, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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