Posted 13 years ago
Liosbaker
(13 items)
My husband has had this for a long time, passed down from his dad. I believe it is Jade. The top which is a turtle comes off and it is a hallow bottle. The figure on the left is a dragon and the red one on the right looks like a skull. There are no markings on the bottle. Any idea what it is, what it is used for, age, value ? Thanks !
Could it be a snuff bottle?
It is about 3" tall and the lid just sits on it. It doesn't screw on. Not sure what a snuff bottle is.
It's a bottle for carrying pulverized tobacco leaves (snuff) that was inhaled.
Many jade and porcelain bottles were made in China and brought to Europe for this use, from the late 1700s onwards.
There are many new ones on ebay, and not very expensive, but since yours was passed down by your father in law, I would have it professionally appraised, just to be sure if it is or it isn't an important piece
It is a snuff bottle, but not like the ones you will find on eBay, I have purchased those carved agate and carved jade snuff bottles on eBay and took them to the local rock shop where the geoligist said they were all molded glass. The one in the photo is older an actually made from stone; the Chinese called this chicken blood jade. You can find chicken blood jade on eBay also in a dyed soapstone most of the time. Nice old stone snuff bottles are worth hundreds; eBay snuff bottles five bucks at the most, free shipping.