Chinese
Snuff Bottle, early 19th century
Glass cameo, height 6.3 cm (2 1/2 in.)
This object is a tiny, green overlay ochre glass snuff bottle. The bottle sits directly on a flat bottom. It has an oval-shaped body, a short, tapered neck, and a translucent green stopper. The green overlay shows a rooster on our right looking to the left where there is floating object. On the back the same rooster is depicted but this time it is looking at a plant.
Little Salon
Commentary
This bottle was created to hold snuff—a flavored powdered tobacco inhaled through the nose. Snuff—introduced to China by European missionaries and merchants—was widely used in the 1800s. Made from a variety of materials and sometimes elaborately decorated, Chinese snuff bottles have an airtight stopper to protect against humidity and a small scoop for removing the tobacco.
The phoenix on this glass bottle may have appealed to Isabella Stewart Gardner—the mythological bird that is reborn out of the ashes of fire is the centerpiece of the Museum’s crest.