An interesting Chinese Art form: Inside Painted Snuff Bottle

September 1, 2021 8:17 PM

An interesting Chinese art form I found While collecting artwork, particularly on Chinese antique and modern art, I found Chinese snuff bottles are my favorite. So want to share it with the members here. See if there is anyone who loves this small craft as well. The Chinese snuff bottle is a small and exquisite craft made during the Qing Dynasty. With a long history based on journals ICSBS, this craft comprises various oriental materials such as jade, glass, ceramic, enameled glass, etc. Of it, I was captivated by Inside Painted Snuff Bottle, a sub-field of snuff bottles. It said to be painted inside the bottles as I read in Wikipedia and an online inside painted snuff bottle journals, by D.D Art. Either are reliable resources for self interest . Hugh Moss has also published many journals and book. It is also highly valuable for learning. What do you think is the way of painting inside the bottle? The skill extended from traditional Chinese painting. Very novelty, right?
posted by David Brian (16 comments total)

During the process of painting, the personal sense and spirit are absent. No personal thoughts and emotions from the painting can be detected. Their works lack a soul and cannot touch people's hearts.

brutal
posted by xurizaemon at 8:25 PM on September 1, 2021 [4 favorites]

How clever the hooked brush is!

Does putting snuff in them wear away the painting? It looks so fragile.
posted by clew at 8:26 PM on September 1, 2021

Dear Xurizaemon,

Agree with you. Modern snuff bottle painters are merely craftsmen rather than the artist. Their works are not charming. However, a handful of master-class artists are still talents—for example, Wang Xisan and some of his disciples.

That's why I only focus on collecting the antique snuff bottle and on master-class fine inside painted works.
posted by David Brian at 11:27 PM on September 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Dear Clew,

Yes, the hooked brush is an innovative tool and very small. I can't imagine how they paint it with that tool.

As I read some articles that in the late stage of snuff bottle, few people take snuff and the snuff bottle becomes mere a work of art. They do not have any practical purpose. And I also think the snuff will ruin the painting inside the bottle, which might not be a good idea, so few people will put the snuff into the inside painted snuff bottles.
posted by David Brian at 11:38 PM on September 1, 2021

I have found this interesting and refreshing but honestly the framing led me to wonder if one of the links would bring me to something about cats in copy machines.

Too much Metafiltering for me I suppose.

Thanks for the post.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 12:04 AM on September 2, 2021

it's been too long since i've been there, but the snuff bottle display at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco was my favorite thing there. i spent 2 hours in front of that case! i wonder if the display is still there. it really was fabulous to see and learn about all the styles and meanings. thanks for the post!
posted by lapolla at 12:40 AM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

inside painted snuff bottle journals

I like how you can zoom all the way in on that site. However looking closer, it kinda looks like they're poking their tongues out and now I can't unsee it. Probably unintentional, though I think it improves the scene.
posted by adept256 at 4:26 AM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yeah it looks like makeup / facepaint to me. It is cool how you can zoom all the way in.
posted by subdee at 5:37 AM on September 2, 2021

Very cool! I used snuff for a while, and decided to buy a Chinese snuff bottle to hold it. It wasn't one of these inside-painted ones, but a carved one, maybe from the early 20th century, if that old- nothing terribly fancy, but still aesthetically pleasing. Alas, the stopper was just the slightest bit loose, so it didn't work so well as a container, and it's back to being an object of appreciation rather than utility. (It was also difficult getting snuff into the bottle in the first place.)
posted by heteronym at 5:54 AM on September 2, 2021

To add to the difficulty of painting it all has to be done backwards, with the highlights and details first and the background last. It seems to be a specifically Chinese technique, and there are large flat glass paintings done the same way, which is pretty difficult. Painting inside a tiny glass bottle makes it even harder.
posted by Fuchsoid at 6:04 AM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

The exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art was fun to visit, anyway
posted by Caxton1476 at 6:22 AM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

David Brian, is ddartwork.com your own site?
posted by truex at 7:26 AM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

Dear Truex,

Not mine but one of fellow I met when I paid visit to Beijing.

We both are David.
posted by David Brian at 7:42 AM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

Very interesting; I have a small collection of snuff bottles I inherited from my grandmother by way of my parents. She started collecting them in the mid 1970s after she went to China as part of a trip around the world. I doubt any of them are particularly valuable but who knows? There are a couple of inside painted ones, but also ones carved out of a variety of other materials as well as a brass one or two. I haven’t unpacked them since bringing them to my house a few months ago, but this may inspire me to find a place to display them and try to learn more about them.
posted by TedW at 10:06 AM on September 2, 2021

Dear TedW,

Interesting! If it were collected during the mid-1970s, the inside painted snuff bottle would be valuable, I think. If you want to learn more about snuff bottles, I would recommend you to a snuff bottle forum where many senior fellows are gathered together to discuss Snuff Bottle. You could post your picture and someone will advice you.
posted by David Brian at 6:48 PM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this post, David! I learned about a thing I never knew existed which is my favourite part of Metafilter.
posted by sixswitch at 12:04 AM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]