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Chinese Snuff Bottles

From the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect III
Laurence King Publishing By Denis S.K. Low

9-1/4 x 12-1/4 in; 432 pp ; 735 color illustrations
Hardcover
Published in February, 2008
ISBN 9810578865
ISBN13 9789810578862

$225.00  

Chinese Snuff Bottles -- The art of the snuff bottle has its origins in the introduction of tobacco snuff to the Imperial Court of the Manchus (Qing Dynasty 1642-1911). Powdered snuff was regarded as having medicinal qualities and with court patronage, rapidly grew in popularity. Ornate snuff bottles were created by Chinese craftsmen from a bewildering array of materials: porcelain, enamel, metal, wood, jadeite, ivory, and glass, using techniques only known in China at the time. Snuff bottles are elaborately decorated, invariably miniature, and admired for their tactile qualities. The surviving examples are highly prized by collectors and students of the history of arts and crafts in China. This new book showcases in depth the style, history, and significance of rare bottles from the 17th century until the end of Imperial China and beyond.

Denis S.K. Low has one of the world's leading collections of snuff bottles. He is a board member of the Asian Civilisations Museum, a director of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, and the patron of the Singapore Chinatown Snuff Bottle Society. His first collection was catalogued in 1999 in Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect. In 2002, he published More Treasures from the Sanctum of Enlightened Respect, a catalogue of the 333 bottles in his second collection.