Chinese Snuff Bottles
The practice of taking snuff in China began and ended during the Qing dynasty. During this time, the production of snuffboxes became a serious form of artistic expression for Chinese artisans. After the Revolution and the establishment of the Republic in 1912, the fashion for taking snuff died away. Although snuff-taking is unlikely ever to come back into fashion, in recent years the business for reproducing old snuff bottles as decorative ornaments in their own right has boomed. There is a rapidly growing number of collectors throughout the world who are fascinated by these small, exquisite objects and attracted by their aesthetic and tactile qualities.
Those with a penchant for the bottles, but whose finances cannot stretch to the purchase of an amber carved landscape from the Qing dynasty, might be tempted by a reproduction. The bottles could simply enhance the look of a dressing table or shelf but can also be put to practical use for the storage of perfumes or scented massage oils. One of the most popular materials used for reproductions is Hong Kong Ivory. This is actually a synthetic material made to look and feel like the real thing. Ivory was used as a snuff-bottle material primarily from the mid 18th to 19th century.
The rarest snuff bottles are made from blown glass with a landscape or erotic image actually painted on the inside of the bottle. Slightly humbler pieces would have artistic designs layered onto the outside of the bottle. The process has been copied in the reproduction glass bottles produced today - some illustrated on the inside, some on the outside.
