Lot 1178
Treasury 7, no. 1496 (‘Mother Gourd’)
HK$12,500

Gourd; with a very narrow convex lip and no functional foot
1760–1940
Height: 4.8 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.43/0.54 cm
Stopper: glass

Provenance:
Robert Kleiner (1999)

Published:
Treasury 7, no. 1496

Shaking this bottle produces a rattling sound. Although we are unable to see what lies in the lower bulb, something is there, and we can only imagine it is the dried seeds of the gourd that were too large to remove through the very narrow waist. These might have proven quite handy in use, since they might have helped to keep the snuff in the lower bulb loose and more easily tipped into the upper gourd for access. In truth, it is somewhat doubtful to what extent a bottle of this sort was practical. Regardless of its suitability for containing snuff according to the rarefied connoisseurship of Chinese snuff takers, who held very firm views on appropriate materials for containing snuff and maintaining it at peak condition, the lower bulb is difficult of access and the upper one is barely capacious enough for a single morning’s snuffing. Such bottles were probably usable but may have been intended as a curiosity as much as a snuff container.

This is not the Sotheby’s sale catalogue. This is a product of Hugh Moss for the purposes of this website. For the catalogue details please refer to Sotheby’s website or request a copy of a printed sale catalogue from Sotheby’s.