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 round flattened flask form without a stopper.
It is made of porcelain, moulded in relief and painted in pink, green, blue, yellow and black with gilding.
The decoration depicts the underside of a lotus flower, with a butterfly. On the reverse there is a the underside of a lotus leaf with a butterfly. The neck of the bottle is in the form of a thick stem. On one shoulder are slender stems bound by ribbons which stream accross both sides of the bottle.
The foot is in the form of a lotus pod and the base is integrated into the design of the bottle.
Place of Origin
China (made)
Date
ca. 1750 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Porcelain, moulded in relief, with painted decoration and gilding
Dimensions
Height: 6.4 cm
Descriptive line
Chinese snuff bottle, porcelain moulded in relief, painted decoration depicts the underside of a lotus flower, Qing Dynasty; ca. 1750.
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.
Production Note
The quality of the enamelling, the modelling and the extensive gilding (now largely worn) indicate a mid-eighteenth century date.
Materials
Porcelain; Enamel
Techniques
Painting (image-making); Moulding; Gilding
Subjects depicted
Lotus; Ribbon; Butterfly
Categories
ELISE; Containers; Personal accessories; Ceramics
Collection
East Asia Collection