Chinese Snuff Bottle Discussion Forum 中國鼻煙壺討論論壇

Hi all.

This doesn't refer to me still trying to finish off the Christmas left overs as I spent Christmas in South Africa and had fillet steak and lobster tails which was far better suited to the hot weather.

I refer to the fact that in the past month I have bought just 1 snuff bottle, not even a good one at that but it's price and material, Tigers Eye which I like and which is common in South Africa, meant I made room for it.

I had already decided to cut down and buy better bottles but it's a situation being somewhat forced upon me.

The number of all bottles on offer to UK buyers on ebay has dropped recently as has the quality. There is the usual crap direct from China which appears to be the only thing attracting any bids. Even the auction houses seem to have less on offer of late and the prices realised from an auction at Bellmans here in the UK seemed to go higher than normal.

I also collect Japanese lacquered items and Inro but they seem in short supply as well.

I've found myself being drawn to a weird fake MSH bottle as I sit here with shaking hands trying to fulfil my addiction.

Anyone else suffering or is just me.

Regards,

Adrian.

Adrian,

Patience!  We all have our dry spells.  For myself I often see one or two a year.  During such times I have often been tempted to buy lower quality bottles to satisfy the enviable collecting craze.  And have actually spent my funds unwisely during such periods thinking the bottle market was drying up, only to encounter a few months later an onslaught of available bottles, whether it be at action, a dealer, or even eBay.  Quality bottle availability in my experience seems to arrive in groupings.  It took almost 10 years of collecting, and ultimately listening to Joey Silver, to realize that I needed to be patient during the dry spells so as to maintain my purchasing power when the onslaught of quality bottles arrives.

Charll

Hi Charll,

I am getting there patience wise as I have filled gaps in my collection as I have discovered the wealth of materials snuff bottles can be made in and it's now a question of upping the quality so I can swap out the lower quality ones.

The problem now is coming to terms with what I need to pay to up the quality, I've just got used to starting to pay in the £100's whilst seeing I need to be in the £1000's which may be a step too far at present although a good Lacque Burguate might be one to do it.

While I bought my first bottle a good few years ago I can't say I started collecting in the real sense until recently and this forum has been a wealth of very useful information from so many people to whom I am indebted.

I am using this quiet period to read up more of the posts here and have ordered more books on both snuff bottles and Inro.

Regards,

Adrian.   

Like Charll says, patience...

I am in a bit of a slump myself. I did order a couple of Tie Ming calligraphy bottles , but nothing else in a while.

Now we are planning a move from our current home to a home on the lake near by in April or May. So we are sort of pinching pennies for a little while.

Have lost interest in searching the internet for potential bottles that can be sold for profit. So that has resulted in not searching as hard.  I do browse once a day, and have my eye on a couple, but will likely not be purchasing more for a little while..

Hang in there Adrian...  Like you, I also need a bottle fix every once in a while and it does start to affect my purchasing judgement.

 I agree that "cold turkey" times are wonderful for reading books and also thread of communication here regarding the bottles we love. They more we know the wiser purchases we can make.  John Ford gave me the advice a few years ago to "buy better bottles" and I have never forgotten it.  Yes this is an addictive hobby and sometimes it is very hard to hold back but it will be richly rewarded.  Now I need to ALWAYS follow my own advice... Wishing you all the best!   Jo

Living by the water is something that holds considerable appeal to me so I wish you luck in moving by the lake George, sounds wonderful.

An estate agent might say I have views of the upper reaches of the Lymington River. In truth it's more of a big stream and you only notice it when the sun glints off it after heavy rain when the level has raised enough.

Perhaps now is the time to sell the rubbish bottles that I've ended up with from the bundled lots bought from auctions and any other rubbish I've gathered over time. It will give me some more funds to buy some better bottles.

There are a few bottles due to come up at auction and one Inro that appeals so I may have just enough to keep me sane for a while.

Regards, Adrian.

Yes, good luck with the move George.  It sounds wonderful.   I think it is very peaceful to be by the water. 

Adrian- what method do you plan to use to sell your rubbish bottles?  I am curious as I also have some I need to liquidate. 

I thought it was just me or that the auction houses were selling elsewhere. I have found that some have switched to selling on invaluable. The saleroom had a few nice lots in the Bellman auction yesterday.

There was a really nice coral bottle that just went for over $4000 on ebay that I had my eye on, but I just couldn't swing that and my son's college tuition at the same time! He's going to a very expensive music school.

So instead I've been buying up old 10 bottle boxes, a few stands, and buying bad bottles with good tops (just for the tops) or buying bad bottles because they're weird. I just bought one shaped like a banana - I think I will have to post that tomorrow as a Friday Fun Bottle.

I have tried to sell some of my bottles on ebay, but I think you might as well give them away for the prices they fetch. To me, it's just not worth the time or effort to list it and ship it in order to lose money on the original bad investment. ;) I would give them to Goodwill but am afraid they will end up back on ebay where I might (God forbid!) buy them again! hahaha  Hence the boxes - they are headed for the closet where I keep all my secrets.  ;D

I've been building up to list things on ebay which seems to be the default place to offload. If those horrid blue/green boy clutching gourd resin bottles can always attract bids then clearly there are people with bad enough taste to be drawn to some of the things I will list.

Cathy, I love the thought of you buying back bottles you've got rid of, should I offer you my surplus bottles as a job lot, I have some weird ones but Frankie the floater is one I will keep, too much of my time went into creating him.

Saw a few bottles around Christmas time, but didn't bid high enough. The bottle I wanted went for 1800 USD. Was such a nice bottle and maybe a porcelain imperial example from my research that I wonder if I should have gone all out!

Had quite a lot of success offloading my old bottles on ebay. Even made a small profit though none were expensive and I never paid beyond £150 and most were below £50 in the early days:)

    I have also had a bit of a slow period since my return from travels.
    So I took out my Modern (1950-present) IPSB collection, and re-arranged it into categories (like 'Bapo', 'Landscapes', 'Fish Swimming', 'Calligraphy', 'Cultural Revolution', leaving only under 'Artist' categories, those artists, like Wang Xisan, Suo Zhenhai, Su Fengyi, etc., of whose works I have more than 3 examples.  I also looked at each bottle, to decide whether I wanted to keep it or get rid of it.
 
     Play with the collection you've got, and try to see the bottles with new eyes.
Best,
Shabbat Shalom,
Joey
   

Dear Joey,

I looked at my collection to decide which ones I would keep. It just upset me so much I've run out of tissues.

I'm trying to find my collection of used gunpowder to see if there is anything there I might keep but I can't find it.

Regards,

Adrian.

Or come visit in Jerusalem, and you can look at my collection. ::) ;D
Best,
Shabbat Shalom,
Joey

The 2 groups of bottles I was waiting to come up at auction have come and gone.

The first lot of 7 including an amber one with a large hole in the side, guide £80-120 went for £900 and the second lot, guide £150-200 went for £4,000.

A potential 3-4 hour drive meant I couldn't view them and the one picture of each group that was provided went fuzzy when you enlarged it, they may have used a box Brownie. 

One inro comes up tomorrow and more bottles have appeared, but not for a while and not soon enough to satisfy my cravings.

As there is nothing on my ebay watch list of any note the only way to sort the problem was to buy the third most expensive bottle I've bought, a very (very) modern 2 colour overlay.

Regards, Adrian.

Hi All,

For some reason this thread slipped below my radar until today. I share Adrian, Jo and Cathy's problem of how to off-load our less-than-desirable bottles. Although I'm not sure that Jo's term "liquidate" might not be the better option.

I have an idea. Perhaps we should donate them to a special section of the forum, where newbie collectors can acquire them to (1) learn what NOT to buy, (2) use them as 'background fillers' to pad out a small collection. There would be no fixed price attached to these bottles, but those wishing to acquire would have to be registered forum members, cover shipping costs, AND offer a small donation to the forum to help running costs.

I have at least a dozen bottles I could put into the pot if anyone else goes along with the idea.

Tom

Tom

I will throw in another 10 - 12.   This is a great idea to help George with the admin costs.  Could we add some entry level participation effort before they an acquire them?

Makes sense Pat.
What kind of effort are you thinking of.....25 posts?

Something like that ... it is a good enticement for new members to join and stay . like get one at 25 posts and another at 50 to hook them in

I like this idea.  Lets see what others think. 

Sounds good...

I have been following along and I think a great idea..

What ever I can do to help just let me know..

Good to hear others supporting the idea. I guess the new board should go in the Shop and Swap section. Can we come up with a fun name for it?  Bargain Basement is a bit crude. How about something like The Training Room, First Steps, or The Bottom Drawer...?  Suggestions needed !!!

Tom

Perhaps.. 50 posts Participation and Liquidation Gift ??

Will think of more.....

I have given all my drawer bottles away.. Not so sure would want to require any kind of donation from new members to participate.. Really not necessary, and really do not like to have any "required" donations.. I think we are talking about using bottles that do not have any value to them.. Or if it is necessary to ask for something "really small", like 5.00 or something just to help the owner of the bottle cover mailing costs for a 50 post bottle..  I included the word "liquidation" above, but I don't think we are actually selling these drawer bottles are we ?

Just talking out loud... 

George

We don't mail stuff internationally for $5 usd, so we need to come up with something somehow. Also, not sure we are talking about bottles with no value. Just trying to come up with creative ways to dispose of unwanted (doesn't mean no or low value necessarily) bottles.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the goal is to recruit coach and retain members, but they also have to have skin in the game ..

Ok, got ya...

Updated and expanded my reply

How about 'The Apprentice Snuff Bottle Collector' ?

I like it...

I agree that we need to attach SOME value to the bottles being offered. Most of the ones I'm wanting to dispose of cost between US$20 and US$120, so I wouldn't want a novice collector treating these bottles as valueless trash. They were good enough for me to collect at one time, long ago. They are just not bottles I should keep in my present collection.

And postage from Asia to the West is going to cost at least $15-20, without packing materials.