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- The use of snuff was originally confined to the wealthy upper classes, but eventually became a staple for all social classes. In order to distinguish their use of snuff, the upper classes began to use beautiful, elegant, unique and expensive materials for the creation of their snuff bottles. Thus, the decorative snuff bottles of China reveal much about the social power and class as well as the economic conditions of the times in which they were produced. Palace workshops were set up in Beijing, Jingdezhen, Suzhou and Yangzhou to create these miniature treasures for the court. Other bottles were made in Guangzhou, Boshan (Shandong province) and Liaoning province, and metal snuff bottles were made in Mongolia and Tibet.
Many Chinese snuff bottles are completely devoid of decoration, letting the material speak for itself, while others are incredibly ornate with decorations or designs that were painted, carved, incised, inlayed or appliqued. The Chinese snuff bottle can be called the epitome of Chinese arts in microcosm as they combine the skills of painting, calligraphy, carving and inlaying with the handicrafts required to work the various materials. The landscapes, the flora and fauna, and the genre scenes depicted on the blue and white porcelain snuff bottles in particular show the competent hand of skilled monochrome painters.
Chinese bottles are made from a seemingly endless range of different materials and can be divided into roughly five main groups: stone, metal, organic, ceramic and glass (including inside painted glass bottles). The caps of the bottles are also made from various materials, contrasting or complementing the aesthetics of the bottle. The different types of stone and their subcategories used to make snuff bottles are vast: jade (nephrite and jadeite), chalcedony, agate, quartz, amethyst, crystal, tourmaline, aquamarine, beryl, lapis lazuli, turquoise, malachite, jasper, topaz, soapstone, inkstone, puddingstone, limestone and jet. Skilled lapidary craftsmen often carved in such a way as to make ingenious use of the inherent natural beauty and different colours naturally occurring
Snuff Bottles � Tabatieres � Qing dynasty, 19th century � jadeite, mottled green and lavender colours � Gift of Helen Sawyer, AGGV 1995.012.008.1995.012.065,
1995.012.009, (right) Gift of the Joy DeWeese-Wehen Estate, AGGV 2003.004.017
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