Message #10212

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Giovanni,
   In the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s,  and even into the 1960s, there was 'big'  little industry in Hong Kong and, till 1949, in south China: making imitation cinnabar lacquer snuff bottles in 24K gold, then dipping them in a few coats of cinnabar lacquer, to hide away families' gold bullion stocks!

    I know, because my friend, Bob Li, from Jin Hing Ltd., in Los Angeles, told me all about it. He knows because his grandfather was big in the industry. ALL the gold snuff bottles around today, date from the 1920s to early 1960s. There are almost no known earlier gold snuff bottles (except for a few Imperial enamel on gold snuff bottles).

    Now, Bob is busy trying to buy back some, to add to the 4 or 5 the family never sold. Each bottle in Bob's possession has a matching stopper and matching stand.

   If it was possible to coat gold with a few layers to hide the gold, it was  and is equally to coat a resin bottle the same way.
Joey