{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O8644"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O8644/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021MW4714/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021MW4714/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2021MW4714","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AU9328","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O8644/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O8644","accessionNumber":"1627-1882","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 tall flattened oblong bottle with slightly convex sides and a very short cylindrical neck. It does not have a stopper.\r\nIt is made of agate, tawny yellow and grey with a patch of red, with decoration carved in relief.\r\nThe decoration depicts two birds, one shown from the underside, in a pine tree, and a bat. On the reverse there is a monkey on a horse holding a flowering branch with a flowering tree above.\r\nThe circular foot has an angular indentation underneath.\r\nThe red patch is used for the carving of the bat, reinforcing it's auspicious character. The Chinese word for bat, <font i>fu</font>, sounds the same as the word for good fortune, so bats are often used to express a wish for good fortune; red is a particularly lucky colour, much used for wedding dress and paraphernalia.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"agate","id":"AAT11135"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Agate carved in relief","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":["2021MW4714","2006AU9328"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES363113"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"SNUFF BOTTLE","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"China","id":"x29398"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1730-1820","earliest":"1730-01-01","latest":"1820-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Wells Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"6.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Bequeathed by Arthur Wells, accessioned in 1882. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Scu, China, carving, agate","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":"bird","id":"x35043"},{"text":"monkey (animal)","id":"x30136"},{"text":"horse (animal)","id":"x30117"},{"text":"bat (animal)","id":"x30092"},{"text":"pine","id":"AAT12620"},{"text":"猴 (科)","id":"CIT279808"},{"text":"馬","id":"CIT284229"},{"text":"樹木","id":"CIT279357"},{"text":"花","id":"CIT280557"},{"text":"採摘 (動物)","id":"CIT0285047"},{"text":"行走 (動物)","id":"CIT0384329"},{"text":"吉祥語","id":"CIT0286240"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1627-1882"],"accessionNumberNum":"1627","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1882,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-22","recordCreationDate":"1998-07-29","availableToBook":true}}