A Chinese painted porcelain snuff bottle, Qing Dynasty, 19th century
Snuff bottles, jade and carved hardstones
About this Item
*This lot is not suitable for export.
Notes
During the Ming Dynasty, snuff was introduced into China as a luxury commodity from Europe. Chinese craftsmen used a selection of precious materials namely jade, quartz, agate, imported metals and ivory to create airtight snuff bottles to hold this form of pulverized tobacco and protect the valued resource against the more humid Chinese climate. The practice of snuff-taking became extremely popular in the imperial courts of the Qing Dynasty.
