Snuff bottle, 1750-1895 (C.1689-1910)

Snuff is powdered tobacco, usually blended with aromatic herbs or spices. The habit of snuff-taking spread to China from the West during the 17th century and became established in the 18th century. People generally carried snuff in a small bottle. By the 20th century these bottles had become collectors' items, owing to the great variety of materials and decorative techniques used in their production.

The bottle is an oval flattened flask form with shoulders sloping up to a long cylindrical neck without a stopper. It is made of blue glass, with an overlay of brown glass carved in relief. The decoration depicts two confronted stylised linear dragons enclosing the character shou, meaning 'long life'. The same design is on the reverse and there are mock double ring handles on the shoulders. The high curved foot is formed by a ring of brown glass overlay.