Minneapolis Institute of Art

Snuff bottle with yin-yang symbol and bird

China

Date

Qing dynasty (1644–1912)

Medium

Silver, ivory, bone, amber

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Snuff is powdered tobacco, which users inhale up their noses. It was introduced to China from Europe in the early 1700s and became widely popular. Storage bottles, often with stoppers ending with spoons to extract the snuff within, soon caught on throughout Chinese society. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet often incredibly ornate, Chinese snuff bottles can be marvels of artistic skill. As demonstrated by this group of examples, many bottles are made from materials such as ivory, coral, porcelain, or semiprecious stones. Many designs were original and compelling, but some draw upon familiar imagery from other—and much larger-scale—genres of art, like painting. Asia

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