Snuff bottle, carved quartz, China, 1750-1909
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1750-1909
People generally carried snuff in a small bottle. The bottle is pebble shaped and it does not have a stopper. It is made of quartz with large inclusions of chalcedony and agate, with carved decoration. The carving depicts a cormorant fisherman and his birds in a boat being carried along on the back of a grotesque fish-like creature with a smaller fish beside it. On the reverse there is a sleeping bird.
The bottle does not have a foot but stands upright on a fairly flat base. The bottle is probably formed from a natural pebble. The decoration is an uneasy combination of natural and carved, with the area of chalcedony used for the fish monsters, and the sleeping bird carved from an area of quartz enclosed by swirls of agate. Bequeathed by Mr. George Salting, accessioned in 1910.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- 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
- Material
- Carved quartz with inclusions of chalcedony and agate
- Dimensions
- Height: 5.6 cm
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- China
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O8814
- Museum object name
- Snuff bottle
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- C.1775-1910
- Museum system number
- O8814
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, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.