chinese stuff Bottle kite

Snuffbottles were used by the Chinese during the Qing Dynasty to contain powderedtobacco. Smoking tobacco was illegal during the Dynasty, but the use of snuffwas allowed because the Chinese considered snuff to be a remedy for commonillnesses such as colds, headaches and stomach disorders. Therefore, snuff wascarried in a small bottle like other medicines. The snuff bottle is comparableto the snuff box used by Europeans.

 Tobacco was introduced to the court atBeijing some time during the mid- to late-16th century. It was originallysmoked in pipes before the establishment of the Qing Dy nasty. The use of snuffand snuff bottles spread through the upper class, and by the end of the 17thcentury it had become a part of social ritual to use snuff. This lasted throughmost of the 18th century. Eventually, the trend spread into the rest of thecountry and into every social class. It was common to offer a pinch of snuff asa way to greet friends and relatives. Snuff bottles soon became an object ofbeauty and a way to represent status. The highest status went to whomever hadthe rarest and finest snuff bottle. The peak of snuff bottle manufacture wasduring the 18th century.

The use of snuff increased and decreased with the rise and fall of the QingDynasty and died away soon after the establishment of the Republic of China.However, replica snuff bottles are still being made, and can be purchased insouvenir shops, flea markets and museum gift shops. Original snuff bottles fromthe Qing period are a desirable target for serious collectors and museums. Agood bottle has an extra quality over and above its exquisite beauty and value:that is touch. Snuff bottles were made to be held and so, as a rule, they havea wonderful tactile quality.

Materials and size
The size of a snuff bottle is small enough to fit nicely inside the palm. Snuffbottles were made out of many different materials including porcelain, jade,ivory, wood, tortoiseshell, metal and ceramic, though probably the mostcommonly used material was glass. The stopper usually had a very small spoonattached for extracting the snuff. Though rare, such bottles were also used bywomen in Europe in Victorian times, with the bottles typically made of cutglass.

Chinese snuff bottles were typically decorated with paintings or carvings,which distinguished bottles of different quality and value. Decorative bottleswere, and remain, time-consuming in their production and are thus desirable fortoday's collectors.

Symbolism in snuff bottle decoration
Many bottles are completely devoid of decoration, others are incredibly ornate.As in all Chinese arts and crafts, motifs and symbols play an important part indecorative detail. Symbols are derived from a multitude of sources such aslegends, history, religion, philosophy and superstition. The ideas used arealmost always directed toward bringing wealth, health, good luck, longevity,even immortality to the owner of an artefact, frequently as a wish expressed ina kind of coded form by the giver of a gift. Probably the most populardecoration is the Shou character, a symbol of happiness and longevity,illustrated at right. Shou or Sau was one of Three Star Gods.

Another popular device is a representation of the 18 Lohan, who were thepersonal disciples of Buddha, just one group of the many revered immortals inChina. Apart from the 18 Lohan there is a constellation of other divines whoare portrayed, even their innards. The eight precious organs of the Buddha arevenerated - his heart, gall bladder, spleen, lungs, liver, stomach, kidneys andintestines. These are rarely depicted on snuff bottles. Animals, on the otherhand appear with regularity, the most common being the dragon.

A dragon is shown in the example at right on a porcelain bottle in splendid redand blue and clutching the inevitable fiery pearl. One of the traditions ofChinese art is that only the Emperor, his sons and princes of the first andsecond ranks were permitted to own an artefact illustrated with a dragon havingfive claws. Four-clawed dragons were restricted to princes of the third andfourth ranks, while the common folk had to be content with a dragon havingthree claws. However, it is common to find that many older bottles have dragonswith five claws.

The horse is another animal frequently used in the decorative work. The horseis one of the Seven Treasures of Buddhism. Its symbolism points to speed,perseverance, rank, power and wealth. The symbolism of wealth and power cameabout because the horse carried those of importance. In the example at right,the horse seems to be carved in a very amateurish way, but in this school ofbottle production, na?vet