Chinese Carved Amber Snuff Bottle - AS IS. Stunning floral designs carved throughout. 

Condition: Broken stopper stuck in top. 

Size: 2 3/8 x 1 1/2 x 5/8 in. 

Snuff bottles were used during the Qing Dynasty to contain powdered tobacco, as smoking tobacco was made illegal early on during the Qing Dynasty, but the use of snuff was allowed because the Chinese considered snuff to be a remedy for common illnesses such as colds, headaches, and stomach disorders. The public use of snuff decreased with the fall of the Qing Dynasty and died away soon after the establishment of the Republic of China. However, contemporary snuff bottles are still being made, and can be purchased in souvenir shops, flea markets, and museum gift shops. Original snuff bottles from the Qing period are particularly sought after by serious collectors and museums. The most valuable ones include inside painting, a genre that emerged in the late Qing Dynasty. In general most snuff bottles were small enough to fit inside the palm of the hand, and were made out of many different materials including porcelain, jade, bone, wood, coconut shells, lapis lazuli, gneiss, cork, chalcedony, jasper, carnelian, malachite, quartz, metal, turquoise, agate, mother-of-pearl, and ceramics, though probably the most commonly used material was glass. 

Broken stopper stuck in top. 

All items are sold AS IS. Lot and condition details are for descriptive purposes only. Sarasota Estate Auction is not responsible for errors and/or omissions of condition. The absence of a condition report does not imply that the lot is perfect or free from wear, flaws, or characteristics of age. Please bid according to your own expertise, or request any additional information and/or photographs you deem necessary.