As the miniature bottle-shaped flasks, snuff bottle was made for court and subsequently for popular use during the Ching Dynasty. The majority was measure between 5 cm to 7.5 cm in height. The removable stopper at the top opening is attached with a spoon for extraction of snuff. Being an object of everyday use as well as a piece of art to be admired, Snuff Bottle has been the beloved collectible to many.
It has been said " Snuff is tobacco’s soul" During the Ming Dynasty, tobacco was already presented in most of the provinces. It was believed that tobacco is regarded as medicinal and has the property to banish infection, dispel coldness and improve eyesight. Snuff is the powder form of tobacco and usually flavored with various aromatic substances. It is ingested by taking a sniff held between fingers or put upon a miniature dish.
During the 17th Century, snuff became popular in Europe. Considered as a precious gift, snuff is usually placed in special boxes Duirng the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong period of the Ching Dynasty, Europeans presented snuff boxes and snuff to Emperor as gift to further social relation. The emperor also bestowed gifts of snuff bottles to favor courtiers.
Chinese people gradually felt there was a need to produce snuff bottles locally, as there was an increasing demand. Also, snuff bottles imported were rare and luxurious.
An enormous variety of materials were used for snuff bottles making. From precious stone like jade, crystal, agate, turquoise to organic material likes amber and coral. Some used ruby, sapphire for the decorative caps. The hardness of the material was usually up to a level of 6 or above based on the Moh Scale. Craftsman not only have to carved the bottles into different shapes with decoration on the outside, or with paintings, calligraphy, they also have to dig out the inner chamber through the tiny little mouth which is usually less than a centimeter in diameter. Without electricity, machine or any technology, one can recognize the level of craftsman and skill involved is really astonishing.
Concerning the shape, flatten circular form, rectangular, rounded tapered form is commonly used. Gourd shaped and Melon is frequently employed also. As the seedlings of a gourd can grew up to a 100 gourds, thus gourd is considered to carry an auspicious meaning of fertility. Similarly, for melons, they are linked to each other in a whole series, which is thought of as having many generations, suggesting an unbroken line of descendents. The use of pictures or shape to convey ideas via various mental associations is one of the important Chinese Traditions. A concrete object such as fruit, animal is usually linked to an abstract idea on the auspicious meaning based on a common sound, pronunciation or shape. For instance, peace is the emblem of marriage and longevity, elephant supporting a vase means foreseeable peace, monkey represents officers.
Finding the technology and sciences fascinating, the art & craft of the West also captivated Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722). 14 ateliers were set up during his reign to produce high quality objects for court. Each one specialized in the manufacture product of a particular material such as glass, enamel and so on. One of the most prominent was snuff bottles making. Through the large number of snuff bottles with imperial reign-mark, one recognize the importance attached to these tiny bottles With the imperial patronage, top craftsmen were employed to produce snuff bottle which made them become collector’s pieces with its intrinsic beauty imparted by the high level craftsmanship.
Snuff taking habit spread slowly down the social scale as senior court officials were sent away for various duties would have made the practice known to other parts outside the court.
During the 19th Century, European travelers describing the life of ordinary Chinese had frequently made references to the habit of snuff taking too.
In order to satisfy the increasing demand, snuff bottles began to be made from a large range of material including lacquer, bamboo, ivory. While during 18th Century, glass, jade enamel were the predominant material used.
By the middle to late Kangxi reign, class workshops developed an advanced techniques and various color of glasses were now achieved, with patches of gold, or painted enamel on glass can also been seen.
For the Jiajing ( 1796-1820), inside painting developed which was regarded as an-all great innovation. This was probably invented by artist of the Lingnan School near Guangzhou. The art of inside painted snuff bottles reached its zenith by the late 19th century with the Beijing school. However, this type of snuff bottles were not at all that practical as the snuff tend to abrade the decoration. Although the habit died out by the end of Ching Dynasty, snuff bottles were continued to be made. Gradually, snuff bottle become a purely decoration work of art rather than for everyday use.