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Chinese-style snuff bottle
Chinese-style snuff bottle

Chinese-style snuff bottle

Place of OriginKyoto, Japan
Date1800-1900
MaterialsLacquer with soapstone, pearl, coral, and mother-of-pearl inlay
DimensionsH. 4 1/8 in x W. 2 5/8 in Diam. 3/4 in, H. 10.4 cm x W. 6.5 cm x Diam. 3/4 cm
Credit LineTransfer from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Bequest of Isabella M. Cowell
Object numberB81M7
DepartmentChinese Art
ClassificationsDecorative Arts
On View
On view
LocationGallery 17
More Information

The theme of children among lotus implies a wish for sons and grandsons to live in harmony.

Japan went into the business of producing Chinese-style snuff bottles because of the high demand from collectors. Scholarship in the past twenty years reveals such bottles to be Japanese rather than Chinese.

Subject
  • tree
  • lotus
  • grandson
  • boat