Snuff Bottle with Stopper
Unknown Artist
Medium
Rock amber with green jadeite stopper
Dimensions
H. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm); W. 2 3/4 in. (7 cm); D. 7/8 in. (2.2 cm)
Classification
Snuff Bottles
Culture & Period
China · Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–95)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921
Accession Number
21.175.201a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate snuff bottle, crafted during the Qianlong period (6–95) of Qing dynasty (16441911), exemplifies the era's fascination with luxury miniature art. Snuff bottles like this one were portable containers for finely powdered tobacco, introduced by Europeans and embraced by the Chinese elite as fashionable accessories. The Qianlong emperor, a renowned patron of the arts, oversaw a golden age of such opulent objects, often collected and displayed as connoisseurship symbols rather than mere utilitarian items. Carved from lustrous rock amber—a fossilized tree resin prized for its warm, tra...