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- until the middle of the 20th century, when opium use was stamped out by the newly established People's Republic of China.
Opium had certain paraphernalia attached to its use, like a distinctively shaped pipe, a small lamp, a spoon, a broad needle, a portable scale to weigh an exact dosage, a specially shaped pillow for resting the head and miniature containers or boxes. The opium boxes, which were small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, came in a variety of shapes� cylindrical, oblong and square�and were made from a variety of materials, both organic and inorganic, such as brass, silver, paktong (a mixture of copper, zinc and nickel), cloisonne, enamel, jade, mandarin orange peel, horn and ivory; some were even decorated with exotic materials like porcupine quills. Most boxes were made of metal that was decorated by incising, enamelling or hammering patterns in relief known as repousse. Some silver boxes were decorated with a technique known as niello, where a mixture of silver, copper, lead, sulphur and borax designs were applied to the engraved silver or metal base and then fired.
Decorative subjects on the boxes include various flora and fauna themes, mythological and folklore subjects, calligraphy, symbols, religious emblems, Daoist immortals and landscapes. Some of the inscriptions on the boxes allude to the pleasures of opium smoking. Elaborately decorated opium boxes were often a display of wealth. For the most part the opium boxes date from the late 18th to early 20th centuries. While they contained a very destructive substance, which caused much political turmoil in China, they are nonetheless interesting examples of miniature works of art. The boxes, which were often given as gifts, had pull-off covers and large openings for the extraction of the gummy and sticky pea-sized blob of opium. Perhaps the reason why opium boxes never really caught on as collectible items was because of their negative connotation, as they served as a reminder of a time when foreign imperialism was rampant in China.
Selected Bibliography
Armero, Carlos, and Ben Rapaport. The Arts of an Addiction. Qing Dynasty Opium Pipes and Accessories, (privately printed) 2005.
Hodgson, Barbara. Opium, A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon. San Francisco, 1999.
Pagani, Catherine. Chinese Opium Boxes, H. J. Eiley Collection. Toronto, 1992.
___________. "Late Ch'ing Dynasty
Opium Boxes", Arts of Asia, 1991, Vol. 21, No. 3
___________. "Opium, the Long Life
Mud." Rotunda, the Magazine of the Royal Ontario Museum. Vol. 24, No. 2, 1991.
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