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

Dear all,

I'm sharing with you all a burlwood bottle from my collection. To me, this is a very interesting bottle. It looks clean and intact and rather tiny as well. As I can see, such material is rarely posted on the forum.

Provenance: Property from the Collection of Lolo Sarnoff, Sotheby's NY March 2015.

Any views guys?

Best,
Samson

Height, Samson?

Joey

Samson,

As a woodworker by trade, I'm quite fond of this bottle.

Congrats!

Rube.

It really is a pretty wood .. Thank you for sharing it Samson.

Samson,

Do to its drying which causes shrinkage and cracking, wood snuff bottles do not fair well over time unless they are sealed with a lacquer and/or maintained in a humid climate.  Also, unless finished to a very fine and hard surface on the interior and sealed as well, wood snuff bottles are not the best functional medium for snuff usage.  They are 1) not easily cleaned without losing the finish and 2) wood readily absorbs the oils and scents often uses to enhance the snuff.  Thus if used, an owner would be limited to a single brand or style of snuff in order to prevent cross contamination of flavors. 

Charll   

Thank you all!

Dear Joey,

As I'm out of town right now, I can't measure the accurate height of the bottle. But I remember it's roughly 55mm.

Dear Charll,

Thank you for sharing with us the common issues with wood bottles. I will keep mine with care. So far I haven't noticed any crack on its surface due to dryness. I read that's a common issue for bamboo as well.

Best to all,
Samson

Dear Samson,

Thanks for posting. I find wood snuff bottles very appealing, and have a few in my collection. Some are burlwood, and some are in other woods such as rosewood, boxwood and pearwood. I was sure I had posted one of my burlwood bottles on the forum before, but having just done a search I cannot find the thread.

Charll's observations are correct, and also explain why we don't see more bottles in this material from a snuff user's viewpoint. Wood is not an ideal material for storing snuff powder. I am told that deer horn was also unsuitable for snuff, which explains why we see very few old bottles made of horn.

Tom

PS: Just found my old burlwood bottle post....
http://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,1317.0.html (http://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,1317.0.html)

Thank you, Samson. Enjoy your visit home.
Joey

Dear Tom,

What a beautiful burlwood bottle you have there! Congratulations!

Actually, I didn't plan on getting mine at first. I was after another cinnabar lacquer bottle with the same provenance and this burlwood bottle came together in the same lot. That's how it ended up in my collection. Anyhow I'm happy with its decent condition.

Best,
Samson

Thanks Joey!

Best,
Samson

Here is another burlwood bottle, which is also a Friday Fun Bottle!

Burlwood snuff bottle of compressed baluster shape with a slightly flared cylindrical neck, concave lip, and a recessed flat oval base surrounded by a footrim; carved with a three-legged toad climbing down onto one main side from one shoulder. Mother-of-pearl stopper with a green glass collar.

Height without stopper  5.1 cm

Tentative dating - anywhere from late 1700s to late 1800s   

Additional notes:
     There is a small series of these burlwood snuff bottles which appear at auction from time to time. They are to be found in some of the early Western collections, and a few of them seem never to have been used, suggesting they may have been made for a collectors’ market. But this one has obviously been well used over a considerable period of time judging from its wear and patina.
     The three-legged toad is usually associated with the legend of Liu Hai and his string of coins. As a mythical creature, however, it pre-dates the legend. Three-legged creatures are of ancient origins, and the toad was long before associated with the moon, having been said to live in it.
     The exaggerated three-dimensional carving of the toad leaps out at you, contrasting with the bottle’s otherwise symmetrical form. I find this dynamism very appealing!

Dear Tom,

    Before I tapped on the first photo, I didn't like the bottle - I tend to prefer low relief carving, as being more in keeping with the utilitarian 'form follows function' concept; but the obvious wear and age of this bottle forced me to change 180 degrees!
Beautiful bottle!
Thank you for showing it.
I only ever had one Burlwood bottle,  a relatively large (± 76mm tall, 50mm wide, 20mm thick), spade-shaped flattened flask on raised indented footrim with ornately carved Taotie to the shoulders. I bought it from Y.F. Yang, and it was about US$500 in the 1980s. I didn't value it enough in 1986 to put it in my 1987 catalogue - I was trying to wow the visitors in the Israel Museum, and it did not have the 'wow factor' behind glass. In the 1980s, China, Chinese Art and indeed, most of the Far East of Asia, were not of interest to most Israelis, and I wanted to pique their interest. It seems to have worked, though China agreeing to relations in 1991 may have helped, as well.  ;D ::)

Best,
Shabbat Shalom,
Joey

Some beautiful bottles in the thread. Always liked this material. Congrats!

Tom,

Also great bottles. Love the carving on the bottle in the link. You probably know but there is a very similar bottle in the crane collection...

Cheers
Luke

Dear Joey and Luke,

Thanks for your comments.

Luke, I have come across three other burlwood bottles very similar to the one in the link you are referring to. They would all seem to be from the same workshop, for even the stopper is the same. But I was unaware of the one in the Crane Collection.

Tom

Tom,

This bottle is fantastic!  I love the composition, the way the toad comes alive crawling off the shoulder of the simple vessel.  Personally, I don't have any burl wood bottles, but I have one made from  sea wood and it might be a candidate for a Friday Fun Bottle, so, stay tuned!

Cheers,

Rube.

Thanks Rube.

Look forward to seeing your bottle.
Roll on next Friday...!    ;)

Tom

Hi All,

Adding a recent acquisition to this thread rather than starting a new topic.

Description:
Burlwood snuff bottle of bulbous spade shape, topped with a short flared neck, and resting on a shallow foot with a flat base. Original matching wood stopper with integral collar, carved in the form of a fou dog.

Height:  6.7 cm

Tentative dating: 1820-1900

Additional comments:
There is a small series of similar snuff bottles made of burlwood, some plain and some with mask handles, all of which sport a matching stopper carved in the form of a fou dog, indicating that these bottles may be the output of a single workshop. I have one other smaller one like it which has been posted on this forum before:
https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,1149.msg40224.html#msg40224 (https://snuffbottle.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,1149.msg40224.html#msg40224)
While there appears to be no obvious significance for the distinctive stopper motif other than as a quirk of this particular studio, the possibility of an obscure rebus remains tantalizing.

Enjoy!

Tom,

This is another great bottle!  I think the stopper really makes it.

Thanks for sharing,

Rube.

Congrats Tom ! 

She is a beauty, and like Rube said, the stopper is extra special..

Congrats! Lovely bottle Tom!

Dear Tom,

     As I think I mentioned - I love the bottle but hate the stopper.
Best,
Joey

Dear All,
Thanks for your comments.

Dear Joey,
What if I changed the Pekingese pooch for an Irish wolf hound?   ;D

Best,
Tom

A lovely bottle, Tom.

Thanks for sharing.

Inn Bok

Dear Tom,

    I'll be honest with you. I have a very limited range of stoppers I like.

For most snuff bottles, I like a round domed or flat-topped cabochon, on a black onyx collar, and possibly with a tiny mineral finial [the famous Imperial 'nipple' stopper!].
The stone or other material should balance out Yin & Yang between the bottle and the stopper [so coral red or green Jadeite balance out white Nephrite, for example].

For a melon or fruit shape, I like a 'stem-shaped stopper, in coral or jade, etc.

For an animal form snuff bottle [dog, turtle, dragon tortoise, fish, etc.], I like a round bead shape.

For an unusually shaped mouth, a matching shaped stopper which still honours the rule of balancing Yin & Yang.

Best,
Joey
 

Hi Tom,

Stopper looks quite cute to me. As someone who appreciates and has worked with wood I am adding my burlwood bottle to this thread.

Burlwood snuff bottle with flattened body, 57mm, carved with a tree on one side and a lingzhi on the other, nippled jadeite stopper with black collar and good ivory spoon, recessed flat foot, 19th Century ?.

Regards, Adrian.

Dear Adrian,

     Why have you not shown the mouth?
Also, why do you give a 19th C. dating?
I would date it ca. 1750 - 1850. As well, I really like the 'cut-off' flared neck.
This can be considered a 'marker' for Palace Workshops bottles.
Best,
Joey

Hi Adrian,

Very elegant bottle! The overall shape closely resembles 18th and early 19th century examples in jade, agate and lapis. It was more usual for any carved decoration on the two main sides to be framed within a border, but there is no other reason to place your bottle at a later date.

All best,
Tom

Like Tom said, "very elegant" , and congratulations !

Adrian,

This is really nice, I also like the spoon!

Joey,

Can you describe in more detail about the 'marker' for Palace Workshop bottles?

Cheers,

Rube.

Adrian,

As Joey mentioned it would be helpful to see the top and mouth of the bottle.  It is obvious that the spoon is too long for appears to striking the bottle bottom and being bent up.  Also, try to get a look at the interior of the bottle.  Is the interior smooth or polished, or rough (think of the outer shell of a coconut)?  If smooth or polished then it could be old.

Regarding the dating, I'm going to be the naysayer on this one.  The wood patina is not what I would expect on very old bottle to the date that Joey would suggest.  Yes, the bottle shape appears to be that of older stone bottles, but with the limited view as provided by the photos and the information provided, my gut is saying late 1800's to early 1900's; a hundred years later at least.   

Charll

I didn't know ivory/bone could bend so easily. When I saw the spoon I thought to myself: "How cute - it's end is curled up to imitate a leaf!"

Tom

I didn't notice the spoon is imitating a leaf. :D so adorable its.

Congratulations Adrian!

Steven

 

It could be that the spoon is actually made that way, only Adrian can tell use that.  However, I have see a few bent spoons in the past do to it being to long.  It all depends on the spoon material and how thin (flexible) the spoon tip is!!!

Charll

Thanks for all the comments  :)

The date I gave was from the auction description because I didn't have much of an opinion date wise.

I haven't managed to get a good picture of the mouth but the bottle has been hollowed quite well without then being overly smoothed inside.

If wooden bottles didn't suit snuff that well then could they have been more of a scholars item to be appreciated more than used ? in which case they may not have been handled much.

For me logic would say the spoon was made with a curl on the end, it fits the subject of the carving on the bottle. It's not hard to make a spoon the correct length for a bottle but if it was made long then the stopper would not sit properly and pushing the stopper down with force to make it sit on the neck wouldn't work. Ivory has a degree of give in it before it would snap so wouldn't bend and then hold that bent shape on being forced into the bottle once. It could hold the bent shape over a period of time but pressure would need to be held onto the stopper for all that time and the cork is not enough to hold that sort of pressure.

You can steam wood to bend it so it may not be that the spoon was carved in the shape it is but had the curl put into the end by some other means.


Regards, Adrian.

Adrian,

I did not read your description close enough to catch that you did mention that it was an ivory spoon, thus you are right it would have been made that way. 

My question to the smoothness of inside walls goes to the matter of cleaning out the interior of the bottle periodically.  Particularly, when the user changes out to a different flavor or type of snuff.  If the interior has exposed wood fibers (i.e., not highly polished, waxed, or otherwise coated) there would 1) be a tendency for the exposed raw wood to absorb any oils and/or scents of the snuff being used and 2) the snuff particles would adhere to the inside of the bottle and would be impossible to completely remove/clean.  Thus creating cross contamination when changing out to different snuffs.   

Now if the user was to limit the bottle's use to one brand of snuff this becomes a non-issue. 

My experience in handling wooden bottles made for use has been that the wood has a very tight grain (such as a burlwood) and the artist or craftsman on quality bottles went to the same extent of smoothing the interior wall as if it were polished stone bottle. 

Charll   

In my opinion functional wood bottles are not easily found.  Unless finished to a very fine and hard surface on the interior and sealed as well, wood snuff bottles are not the best functional medium for snuff usage.  If not finely finished on the interior and left with exposed ragged fibers, snuff will cling to the bottle interior badly and would be near impossible to cleaned.  Cleaning and/or exposure to water can affect the bottle's finish, and wood (unless very fine grain and dense) would tend to readily absorbs oils and scents often uses to enhance snuff.  Thus wood, unless very dense (hard!) with a tight grain, is not one of the better snuff bottle materials.  However, if they possess the latter characteristics, they can be both functional and beautiful.

Burlwood Snuff Bottle:
Of flatten rectangular form purported to be “cherry” burlwood, well hollowed, with matching wood stopper and a wood plug.  Bottle came with no spoon.  Birdseye and fine curly, wavy, grain hard burlwood with a rich silky matte finish.  Bottle sets on a neatly caved oval foot rim.  Height is 6.5 cm by 6.0 cm by 2.2 cm wide.  Weight is 38.4 g without stopper.   

Period: ca. 19th century

Condition: Good, with a number of minor dents and abrasion from use.  Residual snuff coated interior.

Provenance: Houston Antique Auction, Texas Antique Collections, 22 Dec 2021, Lot 344

See bottom pic for example of cherry burlwood, Charll

Great bottle Charll.

I have several bottles made of wood. Two or three of them are burlwood and display some chatoyancy, similar to your example, only with less of the 'birdseye' pattern. But I would be hard pushed to identify which species of tree the burl came from.

What is confusing is that the Chinese traditionally tend to lump all burlwoods together, calling it either yingmu or huamu. Most commonly used species are camphor, elm, cedar, cypress and willow. Also birch (huamu), which is generally distinguished by it's light yellow tone figured with rust-coloured 'birdseye' or curling patterns. I have one bottle that probably fits this latter category.

Tom

Dear Charll and Tom,

     Thank you both for the information.
But pray tell, what is 'chatoyancy'?
Joey

Charll, a nice functional looking bottle. Has the base been removed for hollowing?

Dear Joey,

The following is courtesy of a Google search:

While the definition refers to gemstones, many characteristics define chatoyancy in wood, as well.
 
In gemology, chatoyancy (/ʃəˈtɔɪ.ənsi/ shə-TOY-ən-see), or chatoyance or cat’s eye effect, is an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gemstones. Coined from the French “œil de chat”, meaning “cat’s eye”, chatoyancy arises either from the fibrous structure of a material, as in tiger’s eye quartz, or from fibrous inclusions or cavities within the stone, as in cat’s eye chrysoberyl.

Best,
Tom

Dear Charll,
Nice bottle.
Dear Tom, agree with you about Birch burlwood. When I was a boy, my parents had the complete furniture of the bed room (four doors wardrobe, bed, bedside tables, chest of drawers, dressing table and even the stool of the dressing table), all veneered with birch briar. I remember that at the time I was quite attracted by its blonde color and the myriad of bird eyes on the chatoyancy background. It was spectacular at my boy’s eyes. I don't remember how nor where all it ended up.
Kind regards
Giovanni

John, well upon initial inspection of the bottle base and of the interior bottom you would not think so because there are no visible seaming. However, the wood grain pattern does not flow from foot rim across the base to the other side of the foot rim.  The pattern is different, so the bottom is a plug, and a nicely done job to mask any seams at that.

Charll

Dear Charll,
how strange, due to the soft nature of the wood which makes it easier to hollow.
Kind regards
Giovanni

Charll, I thought I saw a small seam in your last photo....John

Giovanni, yes wood is easier to carve or hollow in the case of a snuff bottle.  The problem through a small hole is to achieve a smooth hard finish, and then possibly seal/wax the interior uniformly.  Interior finishing of wood is much easier to achieved though a larger opening such as a base plug, or as done in halves as illustrated by a previous bottle I've shown. 

I'll seen a lot of wood bottles where the hollowing was only done through the mouth.  Most of those have rough fibrous interiors and are only functional as 'cabinet' pieces.   

Charll

Dear Charll, thank you, it makes sense.
It is surely easier to polish an hard surface than a fibrous one, by rotating tools.
Kind regards
Giovanni

I have never inspected the inside of my wood bottles.
Now you have piqued my interest. I will have to get them out to take a look.  :o

Tom

This is the best of my burlwood bottles.[65mm] Nice patina and wear to the surface featuring deer,crane,pine and fungus. I checked the interior and there is a smooth surface. If anyone knows the type of wood please share....John

Dear John,

    Wonderful bottle!
Sorry, I can't identify the type of burlwood.
Best,
Joey

John,

It's possible that your bottle has darkened due to staining or patina.
If you can imagine the wood being a little lighter in colour, its figuring and birdseye pattern are not unlike Charll's example.

Tom

Tom, the bottle has a lot of patina and wear especially noticeable on the pine needles. I think at one time it was a lot lighter in color.....John

Dear John and Tom,
since the beginning I beleive that it is varnished. It is too much shiny for being just patina or penetrating finish, IMO.
Kind regards
Giovanni

Giovanni, I would think if the bottle was varnished that there would be flat unreflective spots on where the bottle is worn. The whole surface appears similar. On this next bottle the surface is flat [61mm]. It is really unusable as a snuff bottle. The chain is hard to deal with, the supports for the center medallions go through the bottle and the interior is rough. The lettering on the base might indicate the bottle was a gift?

John, the base looks more like a seal for impressing into sealing wax.
Interesting looking bottle.
Is it Chinese or European?
Best,
Joey

An interesting bottle John.
IMO the base lettering is Western - a monogram perhaps?

The wood looks like Thuya burl - a North African wood with a distinctive 'leopard's paw' figuring.
I'd like to hear what Charll thinks.

Tom

Dear John, I concur with others. I see no details related to China. Does it has a spoon?
Giovanni
 

Everyone, the screw top does have a hole for a spoon which I added. Now that I look at it again, it does have sort of a middle-eastern look to it.

All, another burlwood snuff bottle that is a little larger.
 
Burlwood Snuff Bottle:
A very utilitarian burlwood bottle with tight birds-eye graining of compressed circular form with side beast-head ring handles.  Bottle rests on a well-formed raised oval foot rim with a wooden plug inset base.  Well hollowed, smooth finished, interior of walls carved to a uniform thickness.  Carnelian agate cabochon stopper with a narrow stemmed ivory spoon.  Mouth/lip: 9mm/28mm.  Height without stopper is 8.1 cm by 7.0 cm in width by 3.5 cm in depth.  Weight is 56.1 g without stopper. 

Period: ca. Late 19th century, maybe later.

Condition: Good.  Minor abrasions and scratches on body from use.

Provenance:  Clars Auctions, The Collectors Auction, Oakland, CA, 15 Sept 2023, Lot 7684

Charll

That’s a big bottle, Charll.
Pleasing grain and patination.
Joey

Charll, I agree with Joey.

Charll,

Congratulations!
I have three bottles with very similar burl pattern.
Interesting that yours has a separate base, presumably to improve the hollowing.
Is that some kind of stamp or mark I see on the base, or just a shadow?

Tom

Tom, it is just some minor check and carving marks that were not completely sanded out on the wooden base plug.  Charll

Noted, thanks.

All, posting a bottle recently acquired from the Tremont Auction of the 'The Mitchell Bistany Collection'.  It was listed as gourd bottle, which I doubted.  Upon receipt my thoughts were confirmed that it was a burlwood bottle, likely a root crown nodule were the base of the tree is in contacted at the top of the soil.  And, in my assessment one of the more outstanding burlwood bottles.   

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/dd517/rpfstoneman/H19840-L348231204.JPG?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds) (https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/dd517/rpfstoneman/H19840-L348231204.JPG?width=590&height=370&fit=bounds)

Burlwood Snuff Bottle:                        
Carved burlwood in the form of a Buddha’s Hand citron.  Carver nicely incorporated burl nodules into the form on the front of the bottle creating a wonderful tactile experience and a natural conforming thumb rest when held between the forefinger and thumb.  Versa is a smooth carved single leaf down the back face of the bottle.  Bottle has a very light weight and is well hollowed; 24.2 g without stopper.

Coral sprig stopper set with a simulated ivory antique button for a collar and has a nicely simulated ivory spoon.  Height is 6.6 cm without stopper. 

The Buddha’s Hand citron (Citrus medica ‘Sarcodactylis’) drives its name from the shape of its fruit, which resemble the fingers of the Buddha.  Rebus for Buddha’s Hand citron (foshu) = May you have blessings and longevity.  Foshu (佛树) is used as a pun for “blessing” (fu 福) and “longevity” (shou 受). 

Period: ca. 19th Century

Condition: Very good.  Fine patina and a few age cracks near bottle mouth.  Residual snuff coating the interior of the bottle.

Provenance:  Tremont Auctions, The Bistany Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, 22 Oct 2023, Lot 155.
                      The Mitchell Bistany Collection

Just sharing as I finish up the cataloging of the bottle,  Charll

Charll, looks like another great find!

Wonderful, Charll!
Really another great find.
The reverse with the 'fingers' below the leaf, reminds me of a beautiful
creamy white Nephrite Jade snuff bottle with this subject, #84 on p. 104.
In the Lilla Perry book.
Congratulations,
Joey

Nice bottle, Charll!

Congrats!

Thank you all for the positive comments.  The bottle had no stopper and it took me 3 hours to select the various parts and put one together which I think works rather will.

Charll

Dear Charll, how nice. It is a great bottle!
Kind regards
Giovanni

Charll,

Congrats on a great find! I love these highly tactile bottles made from humble materials.
The stopper compliments it perfectly...!

Tom

Great bottle and your choice of stopper enhances it's beauty!