A delicate carved glass Chinese snuff bottle, with a replacement stopper and spoon, the body in white glass with plum color carved glass decorations in the image of frogs on lotus pads in water, leaping frogs and a dragonfly. The footrim is also plum color. The replacement top is a scrolling meshwork of silver surmounted by a cabachon of turquoise. Overall the piece measures 3-1/8"H x 1-1/8" in diameter at the widest point.
Snuff bottles are made of a wide variety of materials. These include coral, ivory, jade, jadeite, mother of pearl, lapis lazuli, quartz, malachite, agate, turquoise as well as gold, silver and many more exotic materials. Despite the number of exotic materials to chose from, glass remained the most popular substance to use and most surviving models are from this material. Glass was treated much differently by the Chinese during this period than it is today. The Chinese cut and polished it like a precious stone. By mixing metal oxides, the subsequent glass could be turned into exquisite glass sculptures. The glass for these works generally originated in Shantung although the cutting itself was done in Beijing.
400/600
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