Chinese snuff bottle, quartz and tourmaline, decoration depicts a pair of birds, Qing Dynasty
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1750-1909
The bottle is a tall slightly flattened flask form narrowing slightly towards the base and with shoulders curving to a short splayed cylindrical neck. It has a gradated stopper with a finial.
The bottle is made of quartz, semi-transparent grey, with black needle-like inclusions of tourmaline; the stopper of transparent densely tourmalinised quartz. The decoration depicts a pair of birds, which may be ducks, and perhaps a deer beneath a pine tree. The bottle has an indentation underneath and no foot. The carved decoration is obscured by the natural colour of the stone.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 2
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions
- Height 7.6 cm bottle only
- Materials and techniques
- Carved quartz with inclusions of tourmaline
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- China
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O8757
- Museum object number
- C.1851-1910
- Source note
- Facts transcribed from the linked single-object source. Wider type attribution and authenticity have not been independently verified.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type and source attribution against specialist references.