During the 19th century there was a renewed interest in ancient scripts among scholars. This was largely in response to a century of security and wealth which allowed the scholar class to indulge in collecting and connoisseurship, in turn encouraging further excavation of ancient bronze vessels, oracle bones and archaic jades. These various inscriptions provided a rich source of philological research. During the 19th century they became the impetus for a renewed interest in ancient scripts, which in turn was reflected in artworks of the day, particularly those made by the literati themselves.

One of the materials adopted, along with bamboo, gourd, soapstone, wood and other material soft enough to carve directly with the 'iron-brush', was coconut shell. The 19th-century vogue for coconut-shell snuff bottles includes many that appear to have been carved by the literati, as is the case with the present bottle. The calligraphy on the group is excellent, and includes frequent signatures, dates, seals and other details of bottles. The majority were the works of literati who probably acquired blank bottles and inscribed them as personal works or as gifts for their friends.

The present bottle is by Lu Fengjun, a scholar and official from Qiantang (Hangzhou) whose original name was Lu Jun. The copy of an ancient bronze inscription suggests that Lu was a connoisseur of ancient scripts and perhaps of ancient bronzes. The inscription on the other side is most intriguing. In a script which is made to look like an ancient stone engraving, he seems to be suggesting that addiction to tobacco will cure one of addiction to opium. Although this particular bottle is not dated, the reference to opium addiction and the cyclical dates on other bottles suggest a date most likely from the second half of the 19th century.

A similar coconut-shell bottle shaped as a cicada and carved with an archaistic inscription, is illustrated in Arts of Asia, November - December 1993, no. 49.