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 | Copper with enamel decoration and a stopper of carnelian set in metal |
Brief description | Chinese snuff bottle, 1796-1850, Qing dynasty; copper with cloisonné enamel decoration depicting a chrysanthemum. |
Physical description | The bottle is an inverted flattened pear form, with a flared neck and a dome-shaped stopper. It is made of copper with cloisonné enamel decoration in blue, green, red, pink, yellow and white; stopper of carnelian set in metal. The decoration consists of a formal chrysanthemum in red, pink and white, with stems and leaves in green and blue and subsidiary buds in light blue and yellow, on a dark blue ground; same design on the reverse; continuous lappet motifs around the base and neck. Splayed foot on exposed copper ring with high indentation underneath. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
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. |
Production | The original register entry states that this bottle is nineteenth century. |
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.1580-1910 |
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Record created | September 26, 1998 |
Record URL |
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