1760-1840

Details

**AN UNUSUAL RED OVERLY "SNOWSTORM" GROUND COLORLESS GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE
1760-1840
Of compressed form with flat lip and recessed convex foot surrounded by a footrim, carved through the transparent ruby-red overlay on both main sides with circular panel frames, the narrow sides carved with animal mask-and-ring handles, the footrim also overlaid in red, stained quartz stopper with gilt-metal stopper
2 23/64 in. (6.0 cm) high

Provenance

Jin Hing & Co., Los Angeles.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

In the damp and humid climate of parts of China snuff formed into lumps that required crushing on a hard surface. The earliest form of the snuff dish was apparently integral and can be seen on glass bottles with slightly concave or flat circular facets on their main sides (see Moss, Graham and Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 5, Glass, no. 786, for an early 18th-century example in turquoise-green glass with similar, framed integral snuff dishes).

The frame of the circular panel on the main sides of this bottle is a standard feature of Palace decoration. Mask handles evolved during the eighteenth century, with the original, functional, circular rings giving ground, gradually, to more elongated rings, better suited to fill the long, narrow sides of the snuff bottle.

More from The Meriem Collection Important Chinese Snuff Bottles, Part II

View All