1800-1860

Details

**AN UNUSUAL OPALESCENT WHITE GLASS CYLINDRICAL SNUFF BOTTLE
1800-1860
Of slightly tapering cylindrical form with flat lip and recessed convex foot, the body of a milky-white transparent glass suffused with air bubbles of various sizes, coral stopper with coral spoon
1 15/16 in. (5 cm.) high

Provenance

Robert Hall, France
Alain Hindié, Paris
Bertrand de Lavergne, Paris, 15 September 2002

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

According to Zhao Zhiqian, a snuff-bottle connoisseur of the first half of the nineteenth century, snuff bottles were made with extremely wide mouths so that flowers could be placed in the mouth overnight to scent the snuff (see R. J. Lynn, "Researches Done during Spare Time into the Realm of Yong Lu, God of the Nose: the Yonglu Xianjie of Zhao Zhiqian," JICSBS, Autumn 1991). It is not certain, however, how long this vogue lasted or exactly when it began, since Zhao made rather generalized statements about a number of aspects of his research.
This shape is an extremely rare one for glass snuff bottles of the mid-Qing period, although such cylindrical forms were concurrently becoming a staple of Jingde zhen porcelain production.

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