Snuff bottle, 1800-1895

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 a flattened oblong form, the surfaces straight and regular, with the shoulders sloping upwards slightly to a cylindrical neck. The neck-hole is wide in relation to the overall width of neck and there is no stopper. The bottle is made of smoky quartz, dark brown with light brown areas, with carved details. There is a raised flat rectangular panel on each side of the bottle. The foot is high, angular and oblong with a rectangular indentation underneath.

The natural markings of the stone on the side illustrated suggest a landscape with trees and the moon. The bottle is carved in an angular and geometric manner, and has a glassy finish. The severely rectangular shape suggests a nineteenth century date.