Snuff bottles are one of the most distinctive and varied forms of Chinese art. While they are not typically the first medium that comes to mind when collectors think of Chinese antiques, they are an exciting area of collecting and play an important role in Chinese art history. In this article, we’ll explore a handful of the most popular types of snuff bottles.
Imperial origins
While snuff bottles themselves are Chinese, an integral part of their history is European. Before the invention of snuff bottles as we know them today, tobacco was introduced to China during the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) through contact with European traders and missionaries. By the early Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), snuff had become fashionable at court, and the Chinese snuff bottle emerged as a distinct art form, influenced in part by earlier European snuff-taking traditions. Over time, snuff bottle designs became increasingly intricate and the range of materials more varied, culminating in an artistic height during the eighteenth century. Snuff bottles are often created in traditional rounded forms, but sometimes take on more creative shapes.
Snuff bottles are a perfect entry point to Chinese art collecting for novice collectors, with portability, availability on the auction and retail markets, frequently accessible price points, and a fascinating history. The market is not solely in the three-to-low-four-figure range, with Imperial or more unique and finely crafted bottles fetching auction results rivaling those of larger Chinese art forms. What sets snuff bottles apart from other Chinese antiques is the wide breadth in form, encompassing nearly every existing Chinese medium, excluding textiles and furniture. Some examples of snuff bottle types include porcelain, lacquer, cloisonné, jade, painting, calligraphy, and glass, among others. In Western art terminology today, snuff bottles are categorized as “decorative art”, as they originally served a utilitarian purpose, but snuff bottles have also historically been considered inherent standalone art objects. The distinctions of “fine art” vs “decorative art” do not exist in China in the same way; therefore, when working with snuff bottles, it is more productive to view snuff bottles as a unique marriage of cultures and uses.
Porcelain
Porcelain snuff bottles comprise a large portion of snuff bottles available in today’s market. Within this broad category, porcelain snuff bottles can be subcategorized into many further groups, mirroring those of larger porcelain items, with blue-and-white snuff bottles among the most popular. Blue-and-white snuff bottles are painted with precision and painstaking detail, reflecting the styles, shapes, themes, and technology of their larger blue-and-white porcelain counterparts. For example, many snuff bottles are in the shape of meiping vases, a popular shape for larger wares across Dynastic China. Such an example includes a blue-and-white snuff bottle decorated with dragons and in the shape of a meiping vase, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong for 25,000 HKD (2,410 GBP) in 2020. Snuff bottles are often accompanied by small bases in the shape of porcelain plates. Other common blue-and-white snuff bottle themes include landscapes, young boys, and various themes found in larger wares.
Aside from blue-and-white snuff bottles, other common porcelain types include famille verte, famille rose, or red-and-whites. Sometimes, as with larger wares, a bottle can include both blue and red on white, such as this dragon snuff bottle sold at Christie’s Hong Kong for 35,280 Euros (30,557 GBP). As the result nearly tripled the preauction estimate, this is a fine example of market demand for the genre.
Lacquer
Lacquer snuff bottles are another popular category. As with their larger counterparts, their value is affected by factors including size, age, whether they are Imperial, quality of craftsmanship, condition, provenance, and literature / exhibition history. For example, this lacquer snuff bottle depicting an outdoor scene of two women sold at Christie’s New York earlier this year for $10,160 (7,675 GBP), exceeding the preauction estimate of $4,000 – $6,000. The bottle likely performed so well because it is Imperial and shows strong provenance and exhibition history.
Glass
Glass snuff bottles, perhaps more than any other category, demonstrate a wide stylistic variety worthy of their own article. They can be painted from the inside or outside, be monochrome or polychrome, come in creative or traditional shapes or textures, and were created across different periods. Some popular themes include landscapes, garden scenes, or figurative scenes. A particularly creative example is an Imperial bottle in the shape of a fish, displaying a Qianlong mark on the underside, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2023 for 330,200 HKD (31,818 GBP).
Whereas Contemporary snuff bottles of other materials predominantly consist of reproductions of antique styles, Contemporary glass snuff bottles are sometimes made in more modern styles. For example, Contemporary glass snuff bottles can be painted to display prominent figures. As Contemporary snuff bottles are no longer associated with snuff itself, the line between the Western categories of “fine art” and “decorative art” becomes blurred, since the original utilitarian purpose has now vanished. This further demonstrates the inapplicability of Western terminology in Asian art contexts.
Snuff Bottle Collecting Today
I was remiss not to include more categories this article, given the abundant and vibrant world of snuff bottles, but this introduction should hopefully suffice to pique further exploration, as there are many opportunities on both sides of the pond to view and handle them. Snuff bottle collecting has been most popular in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with a sometimes concentrated but dedicated market of enthusiasts active today. Snuff bottles appear in most major museum collections of Chinese art and are regularly offered at auction houses working with Chinese art and with specialist private dealers. Susan Page Snuff Bottles is the premier London-based dealer for snuff bottles and participates in Asian Art in London each autumn, where attendees may view snuff bottles in person. Additionally, the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society is an invaluable educational resource for collectors of all experience levels, academics, and enthusiasts.
Regardless of your favorite type of Chinese art, Chinese snuff bottles offer something for everyone!
