Snuff bottle, 1796-1850

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 inverted flattened pear form, with a flared neck and a dome-shaped stopper. It is made of copper with cloisonné enamel decoration in blue, green, red, pink, yellow and white; stopper of carnelian set in metal. The decoration consists of a formal chrysanthemum in red, pink and white, with stems and leaves in green and blue and subsidiary buds in light blue and yellow, on a dark blue ground; same design on the reverse; continuous lappet motifs around the base and neck.

Splayed foot on exposed copper ring with high indentation underneath.