Snuff Bottle
maker
Unknown
Date1796-1820
Place MadeChina, East Asia
MediumPorcelain, glass, and silver
Dimensions8.3 x 3.8 x 2.5 cm (3 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 1 in.)
ClassificationsVessels
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberU18e69.a-b
eMuseum ID723570
Previous NumberU18e69
Previous NumberU18e55.3
Previous Number492.3
EmbARK ObjectID15414
TMS Source ID3982
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb Commentary
This bottle was created to hold snuff—a flavored powdered tobacco inhaled through the nose. Snuff—introduced to China by European missionaries and merchants—was widely used in the 1800s. Made from a variety of materials and sometimes elaborately decorated, Chinese snuff bottles have an airtight stopper to protect against humidity and a small scoop for removing the tobacco.
This reticulated porcelain bottle is decorated with a dragon on one side and a phoenix among clouds on the other. It may be an Imperial commission made in the 1800s, around the end of the Jiaqing emperor’s reign (1796-1820). Isabella Stewart Gardner may have purchased it on her travels in China in 1883.
BibliographyNotesYasuko Horioka. "Chinese Snuff Bottles." Fenway Court (1971), pp. 28-30, fig. 3. (as Chinese, dated late 18th century)
Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), pp. 30-32, no. 10c.
Alan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), pp. 446-47, fig. 5. (as Jiaqing period (1796-1820))
Yasuko Horioka et al. Oriental and Islamic Art: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1975), pp. 30-32, no. 10c.
Alan Chong and Noriko Murai. Journeys East: Isabella Stewart Gardner and Asia. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2009), pp. 446-47, fig. 5. (as Jiaqing period (1796-1820))
ProvenanceNotesPossibly purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner in Peking (Beijing), 26 September 1883.
