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

Dear members,

please see attached this green glass overlay on a snowflake ground snuff bottle. This is an unusual bottle imo and I'm unsure how to date it. What are opinions on age? I've seen old melon shaped glass snuff bottles before, but I'm still completely stumped with this one, which makes me suspect it's probably quite new. Please see the foot of the bottle where the melon lobes seem carved(?) to form the foot. The bottle came with what appears to be a jadeite stopper. The bottle is quite beautiful in my view as it has a jewel-like quality especially when you shine a light behind :)

Any advice much appreciated...

Best Luke

Nice bottle....

Pin

Luke,

If you get the chance take photo of the spoon that shows the bottom of the stopper.  My initial thought is this may be older then you think.  It is a nice dense snow flake glass body with no black specking; black specking is often a sign of a newer bottle.  Oval shaped body (not round) typically found in an older bottle of the late 19th century.  My initial thought would 1880 to about 1920.  I'll keep this in mind and come back to this post if I come across something similar.  Nice bottle overall regardless of age.

Charll

P.S.- Luke I did find a similar bottle, like exactly the same!!!!!   ;)   For what you paid for this bottle you can't go wrong.   

Beautiful bottle Luke and congratulations !

Thanks Pin and George. It's nice to get a bottle in pristine condition!

Charl,

Yes I paid a good price 🙂 Part of the joy for me is finding a bargain but I will eventually spend a few thousand on a bottle no doubt.

I will take a pic of the stopper after work tonight. There is some rolled paper instead of a cork and the collar is made out of some organic looking material like bone or ivory imo. Of course I bought this one hoping it was old, but had my doubts. Let's see if others agree. Also, the bottle looks like it's been hand hollowed in places as there is evidence of some kind of tool that's been used to get into the shoulders where it has pressed against the inside of the neck and made small indentations. Thanks so much for your input :)

Best
Luke

PS: I found another melon shaped glass overlay bottle in the collectors book of snuff bottles by Mr Stevens. Although it has the traditional foot and footrim...

Hi Charl,

attached a photo of the bottom of the stopper...

Sweet bottle Luke!
Curious to know, is the collar on your stopper made from
Ebony?

Cheers,

Rheuben

Thanks Rheuben!

Good call. I just looked at some examples of ebony on wiki and I think it actually might be...

Often collars on older snuff bottles are old/antique buttons.  Thus, the reason for my request.  In this case the paper rap looks to be old, and the collar could be made of horn or antler.  I'm going to stick with my dating range from 1880-1920 for now. 

Charll

Dear Luke,

     I agree with Charll that it is not new, but disagree over the start of the possible dating period:
I feel it is ca.1830-1908. I know that is 'painting with a broad brush', so to speak, but honestly think it could well be Daoguang [reigned 1821-1850]or Xianfeng [reigned 1851-1861], and at the latest, Guangxu [reigned 1874-1908].
So, Qing Dynasty.

Best,
Shabbat Shalom,
Joey