Chinese - Snuff Bottle, 1796-1820

Chinese

Snuff Bottle, 1796-1820

Molded, carved, and enameled porcelain, 8.5 x 6.4 x 2.8 cm (3 3/8 x 2 1/2 x 1 1/8 in.)

Commentary

This bottle was created to hold snuff—a flavored powdered tobacco inhaled through the nose. Snuff—introduced to China by European missionaries and merchants—was widely used in the 1800s. Made from a variety of materials and sometimes elaborately decorated, Chinese snuff bottles have an airtight stopper to protect against humidity and a small scoop for removing the tobacco.A man on horseback pursues another on a riverbank, while a man in yellow robes watches the scene from a boat. This bottle is inscribed on its base and may have been made at the end of the Jiaqing Emperor’s reign (1796-1820). Isabella Stewart Gardner may have purchased it on her travels in China in 1883.