{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O8514"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O8514/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021MW2734/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021MW2734/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2021MW2734","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AU9481","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O8514/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O8514","accessionNumber":"C.1808&A-1910","objectType":"Snuff bottle","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Snuff is powdered tobacco, usually blended with aromatic herbs or spices. The habit of snuff-taking spread to China from the West during the 17th century and became established in the 18th century. People generally carried snuff in a small bottle. By the 20th century these bottles had become collectors' items, owing to the great variety of materials and decorative techniques used in their production.","physicalDescription":"The bottle is a heart-shaped flattened flask form curving to a narrow base and a dome-shaped stopper.\r\nIt is made of chalcedony, brown, with dark brown inclusions and white skin. The stopper jadeite jade, set in gilt copper alloy.\r\nThe decoration depicts a bearded man standing at the parapet of a fortified pavilion; below is a boy sweeping; rocks and clouds.\r\nThere is no separate foot with a narrow oval base with indentation underneath.\r\nThe white skin is used for the carved decoration; the reverse is left uncarved as the dark brown inclusions provided natural decoration.  Previously illustrated in Bob Stevens, The collector's book of snuff bottles, (Weatherhill, New York, 1976), p. 147, no. 583.  The decoration is a scene known as 'The empty city' from <font i>'The romance of the three kingdoms'</font>.  It shows Zhuge Liang on the watchtower with his boy sweeping below, a double bluff to suggest to the attacking army that they are about to enter a trap, when in fact the city has no soldiers to defend it .","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"ELISE","id":"THES48961"},{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Personal accessories","id":"THES48912"}],"styles":[{"text":"Qing","id":"AAT18478"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"EAS","id":"THES48596"},"images":["2021MW2734","2006AU9481"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES363112"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES363112"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Snuff bottle","id":""}],[{"text":"Stopper","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"China","id":"x29398"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1750-1895","earliest":"1750-01-01","latest":"1895-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Salting Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"5.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Bequeathed by Mr. George Salting, accessioned in 1910. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Scu, China, carving, chalcedony\n\nScu, China, carving, chalcedony","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"White, Helen. <font -u>Snuff Bottles from China</font>. London: Bamboo Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. 291p., ill. ISBN 1870076109."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"men","id":"AAT25928"},{"text":"boys","id":"AAT247598"},{"text":"pavilions (garden structures)","id":"AAT6819"},{"text":"rock","id":"AAT11692"},{"text":"士人","id":"CIT283580"},{"text":"彈琴","id":"CIT281951"},{"text":"琴","id":"CIT282683"},{"text":"童僕","id":"CIT288197"},{"text":"清掃","id":"CIT282032"},{"text":"掃帚","id":"CIT282031"},{"text":"城池","id":"CIT287728"},{"text":"旗桿","id":"CIT0292092"},{"text":"道路","id":"CIT286990"},{"text":"浮雲","id":"CIT0285452"},{"text":"諸葛亮","id":"CIT276629"},{"text":"孔明智退司馬懿","id":"CIT0385739"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["C.1808-1910","C.1808A-1910"],"accessionNumberNum":"1808","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1910,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Snuff bottle","Stopper"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-05","recordCreationDate":"1998-07-24","availableToBook":true}}