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- in the stone or on the outside surface to create beautiful designs in relief of contrasting colours, as well as to capitalize on the distinctive darker colour inclusions in chalcedony to create "shadow" images. Organic materials used for snuff bottles include coral, amber, wood, bamboo, gourd, walnut, coconut shell, ivory, horn, hornbill, tortoise shell, fish skin, mother-of-pearl and lacquer, especially cinnabar lacquer. Metals employed to make snuff bottles include silver, copper and paktong/ baitong (a copper-nickel alloy), and a metal base was often used for cloisonne and enamel surfaces. Ceramic snuff bottles were made out of high-fired porcelain and brown stonewares from the Yixing kilns in Jiangsu province.
Snuff Bottles with designs of an elongated dragon/fish and waves/of fruit and blossoms/ of lotus, crabs and fish/of a fisherman and a boat with pavilion on verso � Tabatieres avec motifs de dragon allonge/poisson et vagues/fruit et fleurs/lotus, crabes et poisson/ pecheur et une embarcation; un pavilion au verso � Qing dynasty, 19th century � white glass with red overlay � Given in memory of John P. Nind (R.M.L.I. ret.) by his wife Mildred and their daughter Ann Neilson,
AGGV 1974.139.001, Given in memory of John P. Nind (R.M.L.I. ret.) by his wife Mildred and their daughter Ann Neilson, AGGV 1974.141.001, Gift of the Joy DeWeese- Wehen Estate, AGGV 2003.004.006, Gift of Helen Sawyer, AGGV 1995.012.003, 1995.012.022
During the Qing dynasty, Chinese potters produced some of the world's greatest ceramic masterpieces, especially at the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, located in Jiangxi province. They created magnificent vessels, including snuff bottles, using a great variety of monochromatic glazes, painted underglaze cobalt blue, and overglaze enamelled decoration, and they were even able to make glazes in imitation of ivory, mother- of-pearl, metal, lacquer, wood, bamboo, jade, agate, marble and puddingstone. The plasticity of porcelain also allowed for the moulding and carving of designs. Excluding the magnificent porcelain snuff bottles for the Imperial Court and aristocracy, porcelain snuff bottles were relatively easy to produce in great numbers and were thus more affordable to a wider public. The potters, who made the famous Yixing brown stoneware teapots, also made some snuff bottles that appealed to the sensibilities of the literati.
The earliest and most popular material used in China to make snuff bottles was glass. European glass-making techniques were brought to the Imperial Palace in Beijing by Jesuit missionaries in the reign of Kangxi (1662-1722). This led to the creation of many outstanding glass snuff bottles. By mixing metal oxides, many different colours were created, some with spots, dapples and swirls; this period also saw the inclusion
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