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Are these vintage Snuff Bottles?

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Author Topic: Are these vintage Snuff Bottles?  (Read 427 times)
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Cindy
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« on: July 29, 2014, 01:00:43 pm »

I am helping my sister downsize her estate and we found what we believe to be two vintage jade snuff bottles.  One of them is a frog (he is missing the stopper) and the other is a bug.  They each have their own little stand and are really in great shape.  We know nothing about them, their age or value, who in the family bought them, etc.  We would appreciate any help we can get.  thank you so much, Cindy


* snuff bottle bug 1.jpg (74.88 KB, 576x432 - viewed 37 times.)

* snuff bottle bug 2.jpg (74.27 KB, 576x432 - viewed 29 times.)

* snuff bottle bug 3.jpg (93.5 KB, 432x576 - viewed 29 times.)

* snuff bottle bug 4.jpg (105.09 KB, 576x432 - viewed 20 times.)

* snuff bottle frog 1.jpg (82.31 KB, 576x432 - viewed 35 times.)

* snuff bottle frog 2.jpg (62 KB, 576x432 - viewed 28 times.)

* snuff bottle frog 3.jpg (68.83 KB, 432x576 - viewed 27 times.)

* snuff bottle frog 4.jpg (75.03 KB, 432x576 - viewed 21 times.)
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George
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« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2014, 04:59:57 pm »

Hi Cindy, and welcome ....

Your first one, a carved  Cicada may or may not be white jade... So very hard to tell... Perhaps if others agree, a simple scratch test someplace on the underside perhaps can confirm.. If it is white jade, then quite valuable.. The one thing that concerns me is the stopper... I always cringe a bit when I see a poor quality stopper... Not to say that someone could well have just added any old stopper to a perfectly fine jade piece..

The second one looks more like soapstone to me... I could be wrong, so again, lets see what others think...

« Last Edit: July 29, 2014, 05:03:16 pm by George » Report Spam   Logged

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Wattana
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« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2014, 09:38:00 pm »

Hi Cindy,

Welcome to the Forum!

As George says, it's difficult to make an assessment from photos, without handling the piece, but here goes:
 
    The first bottle (the cicada) is very well carved, but probably not too old. I'd guess it to be 1960s or later. It looks like an exceptionally fine piece of pure translucent white nephrite jade. But there are other stones that closely resemble jade. The scratch test to which George refers may need a little explaining if you are not familiar with it. All stones can be categorized by their relative hardness in what is known as Mohs' Hardness Scale:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness
    Nephrite jade has a hardness of 6.5 to 7.0 on this scale. A stone such as feldspar, with hardness of 6.0, will not be able to scratch it, but will leave a mark on a softer imitation.

    The second bottle looks more like a lovely warty toad than a frog to me. In fact, it is the three-legged toad, usually associated with Liu Hai, who tempts it with a string of coins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Chan
    It is very nicely carved, and may have some age to it. From the pictures alone, I would say it is made of nephrite jade. It could be soapstone, but if so the scratch test will leave a mark, as soapstone is much softer than jade.

Let's see what others have to say!

Tom 
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« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2014, 09:55:20 pm »

Welcome here Cindy!

Agree with Tom on his points although not sure that the 3 legged toad is older.  The cicada is very nice in my view, but yes indeed it needs a different/nicer stopper.  The trouble with these types of bottles is that they are 'newer' in design and seldom seen before 1900.  In the 1960s there was an influx of newer designs in carvings in materials that were not often used in the 19th century as well, so usually that is a give away. In your case, the materials used were in 'vogue' before 1900, but my guess is that they are 60s/70s (so yes, vintage for sure).

BUT the good news for you is that they are very nicely carved pieces.
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« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2014, 03:49:31 am »

Welcome Cindy,

Interesting pieces indeed, especially the matching stand.

Inn Bok Singapore.
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Cindy
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« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2014, 03:20:32 pm »

Thank you all for the information.  I am afraid to do a scratch test since I know nothing about these or if I will harm them.  Do any of you buy them or do you all just have your own collections. Since we do not know what they are made of, I guess you cannot give me an idea of their value... If it is not a lot I will just keep them but they are not something I "have to have"... Thank you all again,
Cindy
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« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2014, 03:55:23 pm »

Thank you all for the information.  I am afraid to do a scratch test since I know nothing about these or if I will harm them.  Do any of you buy them or do you all just have your own collections. Since we do not know what they are made of, I guess you cannot give me an idea of their value... If it is not a lot I will just keep them but they are not something I "have to have"... Thank you all again,
Cindy

I sent you an email Cindy...
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