Snuff bottle, opaque white glass with red glass overlay, China, 1750-1895
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1750-1895
People generally carried snuff in a small bottle. The bottle is an oval flattened flask form, with very wide neck hole without a stopper. It is made of glass, densely mottled opaque white, with overlay of red glass carved in relief. The decoration depicts the sun rising over waves in the East, with a wan character, a bat and lotus. On the reverse there is a catfish lying in a lotus leaf, two birds and lotus plant.
The lower part of the bottle is wrapped in a lotus leaf which radiates from underneath the base. The bottle does not have a foot, the base is flat with indentation formed by overlay in shape of a lotus leaf. The word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for 'surplus', that for catfish, nian, like the word for 'year', and the word for lotus, lian, like the word for 'successive'; a he-bao (lotus package or wrapping) also means 'purse'; the wan character means 'ten thousand'. The message is one of prosperity and good fortune for many years to come.
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
- Opaque white glass with red glass overlay, carved in relief
- Dimensions
- Height: 6.1 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-O8026
- Museum object name
- Snuff bottle
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- C.1566-1910
- Museum system number
- O8026
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.