Collecting Chinese Snuff Bottles – Magical Stone Pictures!

There are some really incredible antique Chinese snuff bottles, mostly made of glass, that have been painted, but on the inside of the bottle! When one looks at the size of the hole it does seem to be a very difficult achievement, yet they have succeeded in painting attractive scenes, often including calligraphy, such as a poem, or a few lines, apart from the artists signature.

There are many poor modern inside painted bottles available, but there are some modern ones that can be very attractive to collect too.

Some antique snuff bottles that are highly valued are painted with a portrait on one side and calligraphy on the other. When one considers, that they have had to paint the eye brows and eye lashes before the remaining essentials to create these portraits, that are so good and detailed that they almost look like miniature photographic prints, it is easy to understand why they are so highly prized!

But what I feel are also remarkable are the inside painted snuff bottles that were not originally made to be painted by these artists. I know of a bottle where the painter has taken a very poorly hollowed rock crystal snuff bottle and painted the inside with a wonderfully detailed scene of colourful fish that extend all round the internal surfaces, it also includes his signature. In this instance the two internal opposite surfaces of the bottle are only about 3millimeters apart (about the same size as the hole) so how one side could be painted without spoiling the other is really hard to believe.

Firstly, we had decided that we would only collect antiques that we considered to be beautiful, secondly, the craftsmanship had to be outstanding and thirdly we preferred to collect really unique treasures! By unique, we mean hand crafted, rather than mass-produced antiques such as rare postage stamps. We also were inclined to prefer the small Asian antiques that could easily be safely stored without taking up too much space.

ANTIQUE SNUFF BOTTLES, PENDANTS AND JADE
So we have been collecting (mostly at the top end of the market) Chinese snuff bottles, pendants and jade carvings. All of these antiques are truly unique works of art, not always just because of being hand made, but also because of the materials used.

We first came across Chinese snuff bottles, in a small shop in London that had quite a range of snuff bottles, but it was the stone snuff bottles that particularly intrigued us. Not only had beautiful bottles been formed from a lump of rock that are incredibly well hollowed, through such a tiny hole in the neck, but also they managed to create pictures on some of these bottles from the natural markings or inclusions that happened to be found within the stone. We decided these were worthy of a lot more study, as we were fascinated and the prices of the finest examples were within our reach.

But how and why did we end up collecting pendants and jade carvings having started with snuff bottles? The real reason was due to what I call the constant changing of comparative values. These are what one evaluates by trying to compare the craftsmanship involved with the current relative value.

PENDANTS
As an example, we once stopped buying snuff bottles for a while. This was partly because the prices had suddenly escalated, at such an incredible rate (this can happen now and then in any form of antique collecting), so it was very hard for us to accept paying so much more, for just the same quality of bottles, as those we already owned. But there was also another reason; it was about at this time that I had discovered (a dealer friend had shown me a small collection) the existence of very fine Chinese pendants. The very same artists, who had made the best snuff bottles, had also made these pendants. We were instantly hooked!

The first pendant we bought was an exceptional piece and had a lot of appeal, especially as the price was so much less than half the cost of a similar quality bottle! Admittedly no hollowing out was involved, in forming the pendant, but some pendants are wonderfully undercut and the remarkable carving skills admired in snuff bottles were still very much evident in these pendants.

So that is how collecting pendants began, quite a while later we learnt that really fine pendants are surprisingly rare, far more so, than top quality snuff bottles. The search was on and whenever we found one, the price remained much lower than an equivalent bottle. Partly this was due to the fact that there were simply not as many pendant collectors as there were snuff bottle collectors. This fact did not deter us!

Just as with snuff bottles there are lots of poor quality pendants (and modern copies) that are very easy to find. But in this specialised antique collecting area, it is only the finest of the antiques that are really worth collecting, both from the satisfaction and pleasure derived from appreciating the superior quality of these carvings but also from the investment point of view.

JADE
When considering jade, little jade snuff bottles and pendants are relatively far more expensive than the larger jade carvings, for the amount of work and the size of stone one acquires, although the quality might be equally high. Years ago this was not the case, but now you can buy fine large carvings for not much more than you have to pay for the best little handling pieces.

These carvings are to be found in numerous forms such as animal sculptures, figures, bowls, boxes, screens and boulder carvings. There are some remarkable vases with lids attached by a chain that can consist of a large number of links, all carved out of the one piece of rock. This is quite amazing when one appreciates how hard and difficult Jade is to work with.

Some fine pieces are of a good colour and flawless material, others make good use of natural colours and markings found in the stone. The quality of the carving in the 18th century of jade was really superb and even some of the early 19th century pieces are very fine, and in my view this is an area where there are still some good antique carvings available to buy.

The first bottles we decided to buy that were not carved out of stone were made of glass. A huge range of glass bottles is to be found in all shapes and colours as well as a variety of manufacturing techniques.

Much more research is needed in order to date these bottles, but it is generally now agreed that glass and metal bottles were the earliest materials to be used. The problem is that glass has been used throughout the whole snuff bottle period right up to the present day.

The Chinese had little use for glass prior to the 17th century mainly because of their highly refined porcelain skills. They had no glass windows, favouring translucent paper. We are not sure if glass had been used centuries earlier in China but it was certainly introduced to them by Europeans in good time for snuff bottles.

Cameo glass
They considered it as a valuable material and excelled in producing very fine works of art. Sometimes they treated it just like a stone and carved bottles out of a solid piece, otherwise they blew glass into moulds. Creating many unusual bottles ranging from transparent to white as backgrounds for colour overlay work. They were also able to control bubbles and by the addition of white flecks in the glass, colours such as these apt names suggest were created: - Sodden Snow, Camphor, and Snowflakes.

These bottles would then be dipped into bright coloured molten glass which later would be carved away to leave a cameo style of design. Some were dipped more than once to provide more than one coloured layer. Another technique was to apply to different areas of the bottle coloured molten blobs of glass. When these were carved the bottle could have up to as many as eight different colours cameo carved without increasing the number of layers.

Quality counts
To a connoisseur, the number of colours or layers is not so very important, as it was not such a difficult process and a far softer material to carve than stone. What really should be valued is the quality of the carving and the overall design. Quite often a wonderfully carved and well-designed single colour overlay will be worth far more than a multicolour but poorly finished bottle.

To assess these bottles the colour is a consideration but great attention is paid just as with stone cameo carving, to the quality of the carving and especially to how well the background is finished close to the edge of the overlay. I have selected a ruby red single overlay as a good example to photograph. It shows a coiled `Chih Lung' or dragon on both sides; also having mythological animal mask and mock ring handles on each shoulder 1750 - 1860. The dragon is a birth sign used rather like our zodiac signs. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

There is a group of rather special, very finely worked overlay bottles known as the `Seal School' because they always include a seal with the design. They were made later and date back from the second half of the 19th century.

Although these were made in the same way, the overlay is far more delicately carved and often even the thickness of the overlay is controlled to create shading. They normally used opaque white bottles as the background but some were also worked on other opaque colours. So far, I have never seen any on the clear or snowflake backgrounds. The photograph* shows a fine seal school bottle depicting a pair of cats at play with hovering insects amongst the flowers. On each side there is a bowl of fruit on a table and on the reverse is another scene of a drunken poet asleep in a garden. (*See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Layers of glass
Apart from these overlay types there are many interesting mottled, swirling and colourful designs as well as the plain colour bottles, both uncarved and carved.

Many of these were quite complex in the way they were made: some were blown into moulds then finished by hand; others involved blowing a clear glass into a mould but then another layer was blown inside the first bottle. This layer was a thin colourful one, sandwiched by yet a third clear layer that was also blown in. When looking down at the neck of one of these bottles you can clearly see these three layers.

A variety of colours were successfully used, together with gold in the creation of snuff bottles. There is no doubt that their advanced knowledge acquired in firing porcelain, and how metallic oxides react, was put to good use in glass.

It has also been suggested that apart from mixing in metals, even small particles of precious gemstones such as Sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies were added to the molten glass.

Particular attention was given to the feel of the finished material, which was achieved by the type of polishing and even the weight was controlled by the addition of lead. With transparent bottles the inside could be controlled and made to appear crazed as these names suggest - Cracked Ice, Fish Net or Sea Spray.

Most of the really fine snuff bottles were made in the Imperial Workshop and other small glass works around Peking.

Stone imitations
With such expertise the Chinese were able to make astounding imitations of other materials. There are many bottles that look and feel just like Jade, Aquamarine, Agate and other stones. There has been a view in the past that the Chinese made these as fakes with the intention to deceive. I am sure that this was not the case, as it was far too easy to find them out by careful inspection. Under magnification little holes on the surface that could not be polished out and tiny bubbles would be seen proving it must be glass. Lastly, glass unlike the stones can be scratched quite easily by steel.

The Chinese enjoyed making convincing imitations of highly valued minerals as a demonstration of their skill. One other mineral cleverly copied was Realgar with its bright red and yellow swirling colours, impossible to use because of a high arsenic content, so these copies would have caused a lot of intrigue.

Imperial yellow
I have already mentioned that a wide range of colours was used for glass bottles. Such colours as sapphire blue and ruby red seem to have been the most popular of the earliest ones. However the Emperor Chien-Lung had a favourite colour that he decreed could only be used by the Imperial family and this was an opaque shade of yellow that is now referred to as `Imperial Yellow'.

Not all bottles of this colour really are Imperial as after his death this colour was available to all. A true `Imperial Yellow' bottle must be one from his period and that can only be confirmed by the quality of the bottle and the carving. The `Imperial Yellow' bottle pictured is well carved with an archaic design on both sides and is of the period 1736 - 1795. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Painted on the inside
There remains one other area of glass bottles that really amazes everyone, these being the `Inside painted' bottles. I have only a couple of examples in the collection, as I do not generally favour them as in my view they were never made for use. Once snuff was put into them the picture would not show up well, and the spoon would soon ruin the painting.

I should also explain that they did not restrict inside painting to glass but have applied the same techniques to Crystal and Chalcedony. The vast majority however are in specially designed glass bottles of a uniform shape.

What is remarkable is that through such a tiny hole in the neck they could paint on the inside landscapes, animals, calligraphy and even portraits. In order for the image to show through the glass the painting had to be done in reverse, all such fine details as the eyelashes for example, had to be painted first! All of these bottles are signed by the artist and many, some very attractive ones too, are still being made today.

For our own collection I felt that we should have one or two examples and I was lucky enough to buy the earliest known, dated and signed inside painted bottle by Kan Huan-Wen. He is one of the first well-known artist and highly respected. He has painted inside a rock crystal bottle, a scene of Buddhist Lions with a poem on the reverse. This bottle is signed and dated 1822. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Later we acquired another rock crystal example, and these two are the only inside painted bottles that we have. I think that this one is quite remarkable, as the interior space is so limited, it is hard to imagine how such a beautiful painting was achieved on one surface without completely ruining the other.

It originally would have been a rather poorly made double bottle. I do not know if the damaged half that has been removed was done so before it was painted, but I believe that it would have been. This was a very badly hollowed out bottle, of little value, before it was painted.

To my mind it is the fact that it was so poorly hollowed that makes the painting even more amazing! Have a look at the photograph. A continuous scene of fish amongst aquatic plants was painted in red, gold, pink; white, green and grisaille dated 1896 and signed Chu Chan-Yuan. This crystal has a natural flaw in the stone that adds to the under water appeal of this picture. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Most of the glass bottles purposely made for inside painting are much larger than this crystal one. Some of the paintings achieved however are hard to believe possible. There are even portraits that are so well done that they just look as good as black and white photographs!

FROM NATURAL FLAWS TO PICTURES

Everyone will I am sure appreciate well hollowed stone antique Chinese snuff bottles, once handled, as the lovely shapes and purity of the stones used just cannot fail to impress. One would imagine that the approach would have been to avoid any inclusions or flaws, and to form the bottle from only the best parts of the stone. This often was the case. But what I find even more fascinating, is the amazing way they deliberately and brilliantly, took advantage of natural flaws and inclusions often found present in these stones.

Most quartz and jade stones have an outer layer of a different colour, particularly the pebbles from the riverbeds. They also have faults and flaws plus other coloured material, often deep in the stone. Sometimes these can be very thin skin-like inclusions, whilst in others large chunks are found.

When one considers that no one knows just what is inside any of these rocks until, as the cuts are made and the secrets of the stone are revealed, they discover how pure, or otherwise, the stone really is. It is with the stones that have inclusions or flaws that ‘Picture Agate' snuff bottles are made. The best of these incredible bottles, once completed, manage to make the inclusion, that forms the image, look as if it has appeared in just the right place as if to order!

There are different types of work within this group of snuff bottles and the first ones are what we call ‘Cameo' carvings. These take advantage of any outer skin or blob type of inclusion (of a different colour); they can be quite thick and are carved in relief. Another type is called ‘Shadow Agates' and these take advantage of markings in the stone where, with the help of only a little carving, an image is created. Lastly, the most fascinating ones are called ‘Silhouette Agates' but in this group no apparent carving is required. The image is achieved mainly by the angle and choice of shape, as well as the size and position of the bottle to be formed out of the rock so that the inclusion becomes an image. These bottles have to be seen to be believed.

What is really mind blowing to me is the fact that there are even some of these bottles with pictures on both sides!

Sadly, few of them were signed. We only know that there was a certain school of carvers known as the ‘Suzhou School'. Their works are easily recognised by the style and quality of the carving, plus the fact that they make use of every mark in the stone to form the picture. They are amazing bottles when good, but there are many later works that tend to look too stiff and the carving lacks the more fluid artistic touch of the master carvers. Unfortunately, hardly any of these bottles are really well hollowed.

OUR FIRST SNUFF BOTTLE

So to describe my first purchase, this was a ‘Shadow Agate picture bottle' involving a little carving, and very well hollowed. It is a most appropriate subject and colour for a snuff bottle because the russet inclusions have been used to show ‘Putai Ho-Shang'. He is always depicted as a very corpulent man with a bare chest and abdomen and he is the patron saint of tobacconists. In this bottle he appears surprised by a bat whilst sitting below some tobacco leaves. The bat to the Chinese is a good luck symbol. You can see how easily he appears, nicely placed within the bottle yet only his head and a suggestion of his hand have been carved. (See the photograph by using the link at the bottom of this article).

We now own a number of ‘Picture Agates’ and to illustrate the different types described, the photograph of the Duck with Lingzhi fungus in its beak is a good ‘Silhouette' example. Incidentally, the fungus is a symbol for wishing long life. This bottle is very unusual as there is a recess carved originally to create the image that serves as a built in dish. (See the photograph by using the link at the bottom of this article).

Lastly, a superb bottle of fishes with pictures on both sides: the pair of fishes on one side are ‘Cameo’ carved and to the Chinese represent fidelity and happy conjugal rights in marriage. On the other side a fish and aquatic plants make use of every mark in the stone, all this on a well shaped bottle that is very well hollowed. All these bottles illustrated were made between 1750 and 1860. (See the photograph by using the link at the top of this article).

ASSESSMENT

To effectively judge hard stone snuff bottles, the first consideration should be concerned with the overall artistic impression. You need to be satisfied that the work looks well composed and well positioned and that the images formed are flowing rather than stiff and awkward. The next stage is to have a closer look at the technical skills. When I look at a cameo type of carving I study the shape and finish of the background, close to the edge of the carving. On poorer bottles this can be indented, uneven and not so well polished as the rest. Really fine examples look as if the raised cameo part has somehow been glued onto a beautifully formed bottle.

Engraved work at its best is very precise and provides the detail. When closely looking (under magnification) at a poor bottle these engraved parts can look very crude.

As rather specialised Asian antique collectors, over a very long period, we have managed to help form collections of really fine Japanese netsuke, inro, lacquer boxes, Chinese snuff bottles, pendants, jade and hard stone carvings.

One advantage of collecting in such specialised fields is that most people will not have any idea of what these things are. We believe that on the odd rare occasion when we might have some of these antiques at home, if the average burglar were to break in and find them, the chances are, that it would be the DVD machine, or the TV, that is more likely to be taken.

Another two advantages can be gained, by only buying the finest quality examples that is, providing one can afford to. The first benefit is that these are sure to increase in value, so much more than the average, or poorer pieces and one has far greater pleasure in owning them. It has been apparent over the years of collecting, that owning just one or two superb pieces has always been worth very much more, than having twenty, or more, indifferent ones. But the second advantage is that these, the finest antiques, are also well known amongst the more serious collectors and dealers, as well as by the better auction rooms.

So should a burglar grab any of these treasures and then try to sell them, especially the finer examples, the burglar would not find it so easy. For not only are all these pieces well documented and illustrated, but also serious dealers, collectors and auction houses all belong to (and have an international reporting system) where the word would soon be out. The Internet is so useful for the speed with which such information can be spread. As such unique important pieces are certain to be recognised eventually, the police would then have a valuable lead back to the culprit.

It is true that there are certain top quality antiques that are stolen to order; these then end up in secret collections where the owner dare not ever show them. This is very hard for the owner as one of the pleasures all collectors enjoy is being able to show what they have acquired to fellow collectors. But even if such stolen antiques end up somewhere like this, then although it might take very much longer, there will come a time when they will be discovered. It might not happen till the owner dies, but then what will any heirs do with such collections? If they try to sell any, then the chances of such stolen pieces being recognised still remains very high.

When collecting Chinese antique snuff bottles, one can choose to collect glass, porcelain, bottles made from organic materials (such as amber or coral), or perhaps the inside painted bottles, but there is sure to be a time when one will decide to collect, or at least add some hardstone bottles.

Hardstone bottles can be found in a variety of materials such as jade, quartz, chalcedony, hair crystal, tourmaline and many more. There are some wonderful shapes and colours to be found and even some stone bottles have images, or pictures, formed from the natural inclusions found in the rock.

When studying auction catalogues one will now and then come across, within the description of antique stone bottles, the comment ‘well hollowed’ just as when discussing bottles with a dealer this term will also be used. When this comment is missed beware, as all good antique stone bottles should be ‘well hollowed’ and if they are not then suspect they are fakes!

Antique Chinese snuff bottles were made to be used and had to be well hollowed, to hold sufficient snuff, this raises the question how well hollowed is ‘well hollowed’? Most good antique bottles are considered well hollowed if the bottle will hold a good portion of snuff and does not feel too heavy. Remember, as a guide, they were often worn in the sleeve. But the most valuable finest stone snuff bottles are exceptionally hollowed out, so much so, that they often look like they have been blown (like glass). These are referred to as ‘eggshell thin’ or ‘floaters’ because although they were carved out of a rock they are so well hollowed, that they will float in water!

These stone bottles are examples of amazing skill, because all the hollowing out has been performed through a very small hole in the neck of the bottle. Even the areas we refer to as the shoulders of the bottle (these are most difficult areas to hollow out), have to be very thin, for the bottle to trap enough air to make it float.

There are some wonderful jade bottles that float, yet jade is one of the hardest stone to carve, not only is it an exceptionally hard material but it also has certain weaker points where it can easily fracture.

Having shown a couple of bottles (one well hollowed the other not) to lapidary workers, equipped with all the most modern cutting and drilling tools, to find out if they could change the poorly hollowed out bottle, into a well hollowed one and what it would cost. Not one would take on the task and the general view was, that even if they tried, the cost would be considerable, due to the time it would take them, but in addition no one would accept the risk involved, of possibly ruining the bottle in the process!

The explanation of how these antique stone bottles were originally carved and so well hollowed out, were all down to years of experience and the slow labour of love, where the carver did everything by hand without any thought about how much time it took.

The first bottles we decided to buy that were not carved out of stone were made of glass. A huge range of glass bottles is to be found in all shapes and colours as well as a variety of manufacturing techniques.

Much more research is needed in order to date these bottles, but it is generally now agreed that glass and metal bottles were the earliest materials to be used. The problem is that glass has been used throughout the whole snuff bottle period right up to the present day.

The Chinese had little use for glass prior to the 17th century mainly because of their highly refined porcelain skills. They had no glass windows, favouring translucent paper. We are not sure if glass had been used centuries earlier in China but it was certainly introduced to them by Europeans in good time for snuff bottles.

Cameo glass

They considered it as a valuable material and excelled in producing very fine works of art. Sometimes they treated it just like a stone and carved bottles out of a solid piece, otherwise they blew glass into moulds. Creating many unusual bottles ranging from transparent to white as backgrounds for colour overlay work. They were also able to control bubbles and by the addition of white flecks in the glass, colours such as these apt names suggest were created: - Sodden Snow, Camphor, and Snowflakes.

These bottles would then be dipped into bright coloured molten glass which later would be carved away to leave a cameo style of design. Some were dipped more than once to provide more than one coloured layer. Another technique was to apply to different areas of the bottle coloured molten blobs of glass. When these were carved the bottle could have up to as many as eight different colours cameo carved without increasing the number of layers.

Quality counts

To a connoisseur, the number of colours or layers is not so very important, as it was not such a difficult process and a far softer material to carve than stone. What really should be valued is the quality of the carving and the overall design. Quite often a wonderfully carved and well-designed single colour overlay will be worth far more than a multicolour but poorly finished bottle.

To assess these bottles the colour is a consideration but great attention is paid just as with stone cameo carving, to the quality of the carving and especially to how well the background is finished close to the edge of the overlay. I have selected a ruby red single overlay as a good example to photograph. It shows a coiled `Chih Lung' or dragon on both sides; also having mythological animal mask and mock ring handles on each shoulder 1750 - 1860. The dragon is a birth sign used rather like our zodiac signs. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

There is a group of rather special, very finely worked overlay bottles known as the `Seal School' because they always include a seal with the design. They were made later and date back from the second half of the 19th century.

Although these were made in the same way, the overlay is far more delicately carved and often even the thickness of the overlay is controlled to create shading. They normally used opaque white bottles as the background but some were also worked on other opaque colours. So far, I have never seen any on the clear or snowflake backgrounds. The photograph* shows a fine seal school bottle depicting a pair of cats at play with hovering insects amongst the flowers. On each side there is a bowl of fruit on a table and on the reverse is another scene of a drunken poet asleep in a garden. (*See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Layers of glass

Apart from these overlay types there are many interesting mottled, swirling and colourful designs as well as the plain colour bottles, both uncarved and carved.

Many of these were quite complex in the way they were made: some were blown into moulds then finished by hand; others involved blowing a clear glass into a mould but then another layer was blown inside the first bottle. This layer was a thin colourful one, sandwiched by yet a third clear layer that was also blown in. When looking down at the neck of one of these bottles you can clearly see these three layers.

A variety of colours were successfully used, together with gold in the creation of snuff bottles. There is no doubt that their advanced knowledge acquired in firing porcelain, and how metallic oxides react, was put to good use in glass.

It has also been suggested that apart from mixing in metals, even small particles of precious gemstones such as Sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies were added to the molten glass.

Particular attention was given to the feel of the finished material, which was achieved by the type of polishing and even the weight was controlled by the addition of lead. With transparent bottles the inside could be controlled and made to appear crazed as these names suggest - Cracked Ice, Fish Net or Sea Spray.

Most of the really fine snuff bottles were made in the Imperial Workshop and other small glass works around Peking.

Stone imitations

With such expertise the Chinese were able to make astounding imitations of other materials. There are many bottles that look and feel just like Jade, Aquamarine, Agate and other stones. There has been a view in the past that the Chinese made these as fakes with the intention to deceive. I am sure that this was not the case, as it was far too easy to find them out by careful inspection. Under magnification little holes on the surface that could not be polished out and tiny bubbles would be seen proving it must be glass. Lastly, glass unlike the stones can be scratched quite easily by steel.

The Chinese enjoyed making convincing imitations of highly valued minerals as a demonstration of their skill. One other mineral cleverly copied was Realgar with its bright red and yellow swirling colours, impossible to use because of a high arsenic content, so these copies would have caused a lot of intrigue.

Imperial yellow

I have already mentioned that a wide range of colours was used for glass bottles. Such colours as sapphire blue and ruby red seem to have been the most popular of the earliest ones. However the Emperor Chien-Lung had a favourite colour that he decreed could only be used by the Imperial family and this was an opaque shade of yellow that is now referred to as `Imperial Yellow'.

Not all bottles of this colour really are Imperial as after his death this colour was available to all. A true `Imperial Yellow' bottle must be one from his period and that can only be confirmed by the quality of the bottle and the carving. The `Imperial Yellow' bottle pictured is well carved with an archaic design on both sides and is of the period 1736 - 1795. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Painted on the inside

There remains one other area of glass bottles that really amazes everyone, these being the `Inside painted' bottles. I have only a couple of examples in the collection, as I do not generally favour them as in my view they were never made for use. Once snuff was put into them the picture would not show up well, and the spoon would soon ruin the painting.

I should also explain that they did not restrict inside painting to glass but have applied the same techniques to Crystal and Chalcedony. The vast majority however are in specially designed glass bottles of a uniform shape.

What is remarkable is that through such a tiny hole in the neck they could paint on the inside landscapes, animals, calligraphy and even portraits. In order for the image to show through the glass the painting had to be done in reverse, all such fine details as the eyelashes for example, had to be painted first! All of these bottles are signed by the artist and many, some very attractive ones too, are still being made today.

For our own collection I felt that we should have one or two examples and I was lucky enough to buy the earliest known, dated and signed inside painted bottle by Kan Huan-Wen. He is one of the first well-known artist and highly respected. He has painted inside a rock crystal bottle, a scene of Buddhist Lions with a poem on the reverse. This bottle is signed and dated 1822. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Later we acquired another rock crystal example, and these two are the only inside painted bottles that we have. I think that this one is quite remarkable, as the interior space is so limited, it is hard to imagine how such a beautiful painting was achieved on one surface without completely ruining the other.

It originally would have been a rather poorly made double bottle. I do not know if the damaged half that has been removed was done so before it was painted, but I believe that it would have been. This was a very badly hollowed out bottle, of little value, before it was painted.

To my mind it is the fact that it was so poorly hollowed that makes the painting even more amazing! Have a look at the photograph. A continuous scene of fish amongst aquatic plants was painted in red, gold, pink; white, green and grisaille dated 1896 and signed Chu Chan-Yuan. This crystal has a natural flaw in the stone that adds to the under water appeal of this picture. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Most of the glass bottles purposely made for inside painting are much larger than this crystal one. Some of the paintings achieved however are hard to believe possible. There are even portraits that are so well done that they just look as good as black and white photographs!

The first bottles we decided to buy that were not carved out of stone were made of glass. A huge range of glass bottles is to be found in all shapes and colours as well as a variety of manufacturing techniques.

Much more research is needed in order to date these bottles, but it is generally now agreed that glass and metal bottles were the earliest materials to be used. The problem is that glass has been used throughout the whole snuff bottle period right up to the present day.

The Chinese had little use for glass prior to the 17th century mainly because of their highly refined porcelain skills. They had no glass windows, favouring translucent paper. We are not sure if glass had been used centuries earlier in China but it was certainly introduced to them by Europeans in good time for snuff bottles.

Cameo Glass

They considered it as a valuable material and excelled in producing very fine works of art. Sometimes they treated it just like a stone and carved bottles out of a solid piece, otherwise they blew glass into moulds. Creating many unusual bottles ranging from transparent to white as backgrounds for colour overlay work. They were also able to control bubbles and by the addition of white flecks in the glass, colours such as these apt names suggest were created: - Sodden Snow, Camphor, and Snowflakes.

These bottles would then be dipped into bright coloured molten glass which later would be carved away to leave a cameo style of design. Some were dipped more than once to provide more than one coloured layer. Another technique was to apply to different areas of the bottle coloured molten blobs of glass. When these were carved the bottle could have up to as many as eight different colours cameo carved without increasing the number of layers.

Quality Counts

To a connoisseur, the number of colours or layers is not so very important, as it was not such a difficult process and a far softer material to carve than stone. What really should be valued is the quality of the carving and the overall design. Quite often a wonderfully carved and well-designed single colour overlay will be worth far more than a multicolour but poorly finished bottle.

To assess these bottles the colour is a consideration but great attention is paid just as with stone cameo carving, to the quality of the carving and especially to how well the background is finished close to the edge of the overlay. I have selected a ruby red single overlay as a good example to photograph. It shows a coiled `Chih Lung' or dragon on both sides; also having mythological animal mask and mock ring handles on each shoulder 1750 - 1860. The dragon is a birth sign used rather like our zodiac signs. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

There is a group of rather special, very finely worked overlay bottles known as the `Seal School' because they always include a seal with the design. They were made later and date back from the second half of the 19th century.

Although these were made in the same way, the overlay is far more delicately carved and often even the thickness of the overlay is controlled to create shading. They normally used opaque white bottles as the background but some were also worked on other opaque colours. So far, I have never seen any on the clear or snowflake backgrounds. The photograph* shows a fine seal school bottle depicting a pair of cats at play with hovering insects amongst the flowers. On each side there is a bowl of fruit on a table and on the reverse is another scene of a drunken poet asleep in a garden. (*See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Layers of Glass

Apart from these overlay types there are many interesting mottled, swirling and colourful designs as well as the plain colour bottles, both uncarved and carved.

Many of these were quite complex in the way they were made: some were blown into moulds then finished by hand; others involved blowing a clear glass into a mould but then another layer was blown inside the first bottle. This layer was a thin colourful one, sandwiched by yet a third clear layer that was also blown in. When looking down at the neck of one of these bottles you can clearly see these three layers.

A variety of colours were successfully used, together with gold in the creation of snuff bottles. There is no doubt that their advanced knowledge acquired in firing porcelain, and how metallic oxides react, was put to good use in glass.

It has also been suggested that apart from mixing in metals, even small particles of precious gemstones such as Sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies were added to the molten glass.

Particular attention was given to the feel of the finished material, which was achieved by the type of polishing and even the weight was controlled by the addition of lead. With transparent bottles the inside could be controlled and made to appear crazed as these names suggest - Cracked Ice, Fish Net or Sea Spray.

Most of the really fine snuff bottles were made in the Imperial Workshop and other small glass works around Peking.

Stone Imitations

With such expertise the Chinese were able to make astounding imitations of other materials. There are many bottles that look and feel just like Jade, Aquamarine, Agate and other stones. There has been a view in the past that the Chinese made these as fakes with the intention to deceive. I am sure that this was not the case, as it was far too easy to find them out by careful inspection. Under magnification little holes on the surface that could not be polished out and tiny bubbles would be seen proving it must be glass. Lastly, glass unlike the stones can be scratched quite easily by steel.

The Chinese enjoyed making convincing imitations of highly valued minerals as a demonstration of their skill. One other mineral cleverly copied was Realgar with its bright red and yellow swirling colours, impossible to use because of a high arsenic content, so these copies would have caused a lot of intrigue.

Imperial Yellow

I have already mentioned that a wide range of colours was used for glass bottles. Such colours as sapphire blue and ruby red seem to have been the most popular of the earliest ones. However the Emperor Chien-Lung had a favourite colour that he decreed could only be used by the Imperial family and this was an opaque shade of yellow that is now referred to as `Imperial Yellow'.

Not all bottles of this colour really are Imperial as after his death this colour was available to all. A true `Imperial Yellow' bottle must be one from his period and that can only be confirmed by the quality of the bottle and the carving. The `Imperial Yellow' bottle pictured is well carved with an archaic design on both sides and is of the period 1736 - 1795. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Painted On The Inside

There remains one other area of glass bottles that really amazes everyone, these being the `Inside painted' bottles. I have only a couple of examples in the collection, as I do not generally favour them as in my view they were never made for use. Once snuff was put into them the picture would not show up well, and the spoon would soon ruin the painting.

I should also explain that they did not restrict inside painting to glass but have applied the same techniques to Crystal and Chalcedony. The vast majority however are in specially designed glass bottles of a uniform shape.

What is remarkable is that through such a tiny hole in the neck they could paint on the inside landscapes, animals, calligraphy and even portraits. In order for the image to show through the glass the painting had to be done in reverse, all such fine details as the eyelashes for example, had to be painted first! All of these bottles are signed by the artist and many, some very attractive ones too, are still being made today.

For our own collection I felt that we should have one or two examples and I was lucky enough to buy the earliest known, dated and signed inside painted bottle by Kan Huan-Wen. He is one of the first well-known artist and highly respected. He has painted inside a rock crystal bottle, a scene of Buddhist Lions with a poem on the reverse. This bottle is signed and dated 1822. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Later we acquired another rock crystal example, and these two are the only inside painted bottles that we have. I think that this one is quite remarkable, as the interior space is so limited, it is hard to imagine how such a beautiful painting was achieved on one surface without completely ruining the other.

It originally would have been a rather poorly made double bottle. I do not know if the damaged half that has been removed was done so before it was painted, but I believe that it would have been. This was a very badly hollowed out bottle, of little value, before it was painted.

To my mind it is the fact that it was so poorly hollowed that makes the painting even more amazing! Have a look at the photograph. A continuous scene of fish amongst aquatic plants was painted in red, gold, pink; white, green and grisaille dated 1896 and signed Chu Chan-Yuan. This crystal has a natural flaw in the stone that adds to the under water appeal of this picture. (See the photograph by clicking on the link at the end of this article).

Most of the glass bottles purposely made for inside painting are much larger than this crystal one. Some of the paintings achieved however are hard to believe possible. There are even portraits that are so well done that they just look as good as black and white photographs!

When collecting Chinese antique snuff bottles, one can choose to collect glass, porcelain, bottles made from organic materials (such as amber or coral), or perhaps the inside painted bottles, but there is sure to be a time when one will decide to collect, or at least add some hardstone bottles.

Hardstone bottles can be found in a variety of materials such as jade, quartz, chalcedony, hair crystal, tourmaline and many more. There are some wonderful shapes and colours to be found and even some stone bottles have images, or pictures, formed from the natural inclusions found in the rock.

When studying auction catalogues one will now and then come across, within the description of antique stone bottles, the comment ‘well hollowed’ just as when discussing bottles with a dealer this term will also be used. When this comment is missed beware, as all good antique stone bottles should be ‘well hollowed’ and if they are not then suspect they are fakes!

Antique Chinese snuff bottles were made to be used and had to be well hollowed, to hold sufficient snuff, this raises the question how well hollowed is ‘well hollowed’? Most good antique bottles are considered well hollowed if the bottle will hold a good portion of snuff and does not feel too heavy. Remember, as a guide, they were often worn in the sleeve. But the most valuable finest stone snuff bottles are exceptionally hollowed out, so much so, that they often look like they have been blown (like glass). These are referred to as ‘eggshell thin’ or ‘floaters’ because although they were carved out of a rock they are so well hollowed, that they will float in water!

These stone bottles are examples of amazing skill, because all the hollowing out has been performed through a very small hole in the neck of the bottle. Even the areas we refer to as the shoulders of the bottle (these are most difficult areas to hollow out), have to be very thin, for the bottle to trap enough air to make it float.

There are some wonderful jade bottles that float, yet jade is one of the hardest stone to carve, not only is it an exceptionally hard material but it also has certain weaker points where it can easily fracture.

Having shown a couple of bottles (one well hollowed the other not) to lapidary workers, equipped with all the most modern cutting and drilling tools, to find out if they could change the poorly hollowed out bottle, into a well hollowed one and what it would cost. Not one would take on the task and the general view was, that even if they tried, the cost would be considerable, due to the time it would take them, but in addition no one would accept the risk involved, of possibly ruining the bottle in the process!

The explanation of how these antique stone bottles were originally carved and so well hollowed out, were all down to years of experience and the slow labour of love, where the carver did everything by hand without any thought about how much time it took.

There are some really incredible antique Chinese snuff bottles, mostly made of glass, that have been painted, but on the inside of the bottle! When one looks at the size of the hole it does seem to be a very difficult achievement, yet they have succeeded in painting attractive scenes, often including calligraphy, such as a poem, or a few lines, apart from the artists signature.



There are many poor modern inside painted bottles available, but there are some modern ones that can be very attractive to collect too.

Some antique snuff bottles that are highly valued are painted with a portrait on one side and calligraphy on the other. When one considers, that they have had to paint the eye brows and eye lashes before the remaining essentials to create these portraits, that are so good and detailed that they almost look like miniature photographic prints, it is easy to understand why they are so highly prized!

But what I feel are also remarkable are the inside painted snuff bottles that were not originally made to be painted by these artists. I know of a bottle where the painter has taken a very poorly hollowed rock crystal snuff bottle and painted the inside with a wonderfully detailed scene of colourful fish that extend all round the internal surfaces, it also includes his signature. In this instance the two internal opposite surfaces of the bottle are only about 3millimeters apart (about the same size as the hole) so how one side could be painted without spoiling the other is really hard to believe.