North American Auction Company
Live Auction

Legends of the West: Western & Native American Sale

Sat, Sep 23, 2023 11:00AM EDT
Lot 537

Chinese Blue White Porcelain Snuff Bottles (2)

Estimate: $200 - $400

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$30,000 $2,500
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000
Presented in this lot are two (2) Chinese Blue White Porcelain Snuff Bottles. One Chinese porcelain snuff bottle with blue cobalt underglaze designs of a walking dragon and second bottle with blue cobalt underglaze designs of a woman in a garden scene. The markings on the bottom are in kaishu script, most likely "reign marks". A reign mark records the name of the Chinese dynasty and the reign of the emperor during which the piece was made. It comprises four or six Chinese characters, and is usually found on the base of a work of art commissioned for the Emperor or his imperial household. Chinese snuff bottles were only made in the Qing Dynasty, which started in 1644 and ended in 1911, and contrary to what some people think, they were used only for holding powdered tobacco, usually with some herbs and spices in it, which was inhaled through the nose. They stopped using snuff in China about the 1920s; however, there were still artisans who continued to make snuff bottles, primarily for the foreign collectors market. These blue white porcelain snuff bottles are in good overall condition, slight scuffing noted to bottom edges, no other obvious marring observed. Bottles average 2.5"H

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