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.
Physical description
The bottle is a pear form, slightly flattened, without a stopper.
It is made of porcelain, unglazed, with decoration moulded in relief and finished by hand.
The moulded relief depicts a dragon chasing a flaming pearl amid clouds.
There is no separate foot and the flat base with an oval indentation underneath contains an incised mark Rongjing Zuo', 'made by Rongjing'.
Place of Origin
China (made)
Date
1821-1861 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Unglazed porcelain, moulded in relief
Marks and inscriptions
'Rongjing Zuo'
'made by Rongjing'.
Chinese; underneath base; incising
Dimensions
Height: 6.5 cm
Descriptive line
Chinese snuff bottle, unglazed porcelain moulded in relief, decoration depicts a dragon chasing a flaming pearl, Qing Dynasty; 1821-1861.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
White, Helen. Snuff Bottles from China. London: Bamboo Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. 291p., ill. ISBN 1870076109.
Materials
Porcelain
Techniques
Moulding; Incising
Subjects depicted
Pearl; Dragon
Categories
ELISE; Containers; Personal accessories; Ceramics
Collection
East Asia Collection