The Bliss M. And Mildred A. Wiant Collection of Chinese Art at the Ohio State University, stewarded by the Wexner Center for the Arts, includes over six hundred objects
Diaz 2 reflecting the legacy of imperial China. In 1923, Bliss and Mildred Wiant moved from Ohio to Beijing, China to serve as Methodist missionaries. The Qing dynasty (1644-1912), the last imperial dynasty of China, had recently been dissolved ending more than a millennium of dynastic rule. China was experiencing an intense period of civil strife including a civil war and a Japanese invasion. The Wiants recognized the importance of imperial objects that were now being sold in curio shops. In 1978, Bliss and Mildred Wiant donated their collection to the Ohio State University with the goal of sharing Chinese culture with the community.
The Wiant Collection includes several Chinese snuff bottles from the 18-19th centuries, including a porcelain underglaze copper bottle featuring a dragon and landscape motif. This object measures three inches in height and one inch in width, is cylindrical in shape with an upright and narrow neck and resting on a spherical foot rim. The snuff bottle is also accompanied with a hemispherical lid that is no longer attached (fig. 1 & 2).
“Snuff” is tobacco that has been grounded into a powder form and flavored with various aromatic substances. The most prevalent aromatic substances include mint camphor, jasmine and essence of rose. The use of snuff is China during the Qing Dynasty reveals the prevalent European influence on Chinese culture. The indigenous peoples of Brazil were the first known people to have used snuff. Tobacco leaves were grounded into a mortar and pestle made of rosewood, resulting in the snuff acquiring a wood aroma. The resulting snuff was then stored in ornate bottles to preserve its flavor for later consumption. On Christopher Columbus’ second voyage to the Americas in 1493, Franciscan monk Ramón Pané observed snuff-taking by the
Diaz 3 Taíno and Carib people of the Lesser Antilles. Friar Pané returned to Spain with snuff, signaling it’s arrival in Europe that would last for centuries.
In the early 16th century, the Spanish House of Trade established a snuff trade monopoly in Seville. This became Europe’s first manufacturing and development center for snuff. It was the Dutch who named the product “snuff” (snuif). As snuff became more popular, a multitude of snuff related accessories including snuff boxes and bottles did as well. By 1650, snuff use had spread throughout Europe as well as Africa, Japan, and China.
The smoking of tobacco was illegal during the Qing dynasty, but the legality of snuff was attributable to its perceived medicinal qualities. Snuff was believed to dispel colds, induce sweat, cure optic and dental pain, asthma, and constipation. It was also believed that the effects of snuffs were more beneficial after a heavy dinner. By the end of the 17th century, snuff had become social ritual. It was common to offer a pinch of snuff as a greeting to friends and relatives.
Snuff bottles were created in a vast variety of shapes and materials. A reoccurring element was in the relative size, which was most commonly two to three inches. This allowed bottles to fit comfortably in the palm of the hand, and enabled the user quick and immediate use. The most commonly produced cylindrical shape was derived from small medicine bottles of earlier periods, most notably drug vials. Many inoperative drug vials were repurposed into snuff bottles. Most bottles are supported by a foot rim and have an upright neck. The opening is sealed with a removable cork stopper attached to a hemispherical lid. Attached to the cork is a small
Diaz 4 spoon or ladle, most commonly made of silver, ivory, bone, horn or bamboo. The spoon was used to extract the snuff from the bottle, before it was inhaled into the nostril. To fill the bottle with snuff, a slender ivory funnel was inserted into the spout and the snuff poured through.
Snuff bottles were created from almost every attainable material, the most common being ivory, coral, mother of pearl, lacquer, glass and various types of stone. When first introduced to China, snuff remained an indulgence of the upper class. By the middle of the 19th century the habit of snuff was widely practiced in all sections of society. Artistic snuff bottles began to be made in large quantities and were considered a normal accoutrement. Although a simple object manufactured for every day use, snuff bottles quickly became an object of beauty and artistic expression.
More intricately created bottles were distinguishable in both quality and value. During the Qing dynasty, the Chinese often treated glass like a semi-precious stone. Glass was cut and polished similar to stones such as jade. They could produce a great wealth colored glass with the addition of oxides, and became adept at imitating jade, malachite, lapis lazuli, and coral. Glass snuff bottles often included several layers of glass, allowing for the image to exist in relative relief. The most intricate glass snuff bottles were painted on the interior surface. This technique could take several days to complete, and were among the most highly valued snuff bottles.
China is the birthplace of porcelain, so it is somewhat unexpected that porcelain was not used for the manufacture of snuff bottles until the end of the 18th century. This is perhaps due to the fact that neither of the two qualities for which porcelain was valued, it’s translucency and sonority, was not apparent in a small object such as a snuff bottle. As snuff began to expand
Diaz 5 down the social hierarchy, the relative cheapness of porcelain made it an ideal material for manufacture. The production of porcelain bottles increased tremendously to meet the new demand.
Porcelain is composed of two raw materials, kaolin and petuntse. Kaolin, also know as China clay, is a soft white clay. The name is derived from a hill in China named Kao-ling from which the material was mined for centuries. Petuntse in the name given to a wide range of feldspathic rocks. Both of these materials were in high abundance in Jingdezhen, in the Jiangxi province. As a result, Jingdezhen became the center of porcelain production for the majority of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The petuntse was ground into powder and mixed with kaolin. During firing, the petuntse was vitrified while the kaolin ensured that the object retained its shape. Porcelain requires firing temperatures upwards of two thousand five hundred degrees Fahrenheit. This produces a glassy and vitrified substance. European potters attempted to imitate Chinese porcelain, which resulted in artificial or ‘soft-paste’ porcelain that replaced kaolin with ground up glass or bone ash. The best versions of soft paste porcelain can match in whiteness and translucency, but the resulting product lacks the strength of ‘hard-paste’ porcelain.
Porcelain snuff bottle decoration can be grouped into four categories. The bottle can be simply molded and enameled resulting in a slightly raised decoration, molded with relief decoration and enameled, carved and left unglazed resulting in bisque porcelain with a matte finish, or decorated in underglaze-blue or copper red.
Diaz 6
Underglaze decorated snuff bottles were the cheapest to manufacture in large quantities. This technique was required by those who did not have the means to acquire snuff bottles in more exotic materials. The organization necessary to produce the large amounts of these items was one of the earliest examples of mass production. Multiple artists were involved in the process, each assigned a specific task. One man would mix the ingredients, another would mold the shape, another would fire it in a kiln, ect. Most porcelain snuff bottles were created from a mold for rapid creation.
The most famed of Chinese porcelain is that which is decorated in blue and white. This technique required to produce this style is regarded as one of the great innovations introduced by the Chinese as early as the 14th century. The technique took advantage of oxides imported from Persia, present day Iran. When Islamic potters and ceramicists used oxides, the resulting color ran and the image was obscured. The Chinese discovered that the addition of the oxide before a subsequent re-firing beneath a glaze prevented this defect and resulted in highly saturated colors. Only three oxides are able to withstand the high firing temperature required in the manufacture or porcelain, cobalt, copper and iron. Cobalt is responsible for the brilliant color of blue, while copper oxide produces shades ranging from green, red, to gray depending on the temperature of the kiln. This technique was not applied to snuff bottles until the 19th century, however an enormous numbers of blue and white porcelain snuff bottles were produced.
Some snuff bottles are completely devoid of decoration, while others are incredibly
Diaz 7 ornate. As in all Chinese art form, symbolism is highly present in all aspects and is an important aspect of decorative detail. Symbols are derived from a multitude of sources including religion, philosophy, history and legends. Most decorative motifs are thought to represent longevity, wealth or health. The most common decoration found on Chinese snuff bottles is the Shou character for happiness and longevity. Animals also appear with regularity. The horse holds symbolism of perseverance and strength. The fish is a symbol of wealth and abundance, as well as harmony and connubial bliss.
The most common animal motif in Chinese art is the dragon. The first Chinese national flag, created during the Qing dynasty, featured a dragon. In Chinese culture the dragon is revered as a divine mythical creature, as well as a symbol of strength, good fortune and transformation. When used in an imperial context, the dragon became a symbol of the Emperor of China and their imperial power and strength. The five-clawed dragon was strictly reserved for use by the Emperor, but by the end of the Qing Dynasty this mandate became less stringent.
Dragons are commonly portrayed pursuing a pearl surrounded by fire. This mystical pearl is rendered as a red or white circle ringed by a fiery blaze. It is viewed as a metaphor for wisdom, enlightenment and spiritual essence. The dragon is in pursuit of the elusive object, its mouth open and eyes bulging in anticipation. The dragon depicted on the Wiant Collection snuff bottle is surrounded by flames, in search of the evasive pearl (fig. 3). The pearl itself is not depicted adjacent to the dragon, which is more commonly represented. Alternatively, the lid of this snuff bottle has been inlaid with a veritable pearl (fig. 2). It is unclear whether the pearl itself has been bisected or if the lid has been sculpted to accommodate the spherical shape of the pearl.
Diaz 8 Adhesive remnants are present between the pearl and the lid (fig. 4).
It is also unclear what materials the lid has been created from. It has the same luminosity and reflectiveness of the porcelain bottle, as well as the same hue of red as the dragon motif. Because of this, it may be easy to assume that the lid is also porcelain. However, it is standard for lids to be constructed of coral or jade. The shade of red is also consistent with coral. Because of this, it is implausible to determine the material based on physical observations.
The interior of bottle’s neck is covered with a yellow, translucent substance that appears tacky and viscous in texture (fig. 5). It is speculators that this substance is pure nicotine, the stimulant present in tobacco. As time progressed, the tobacco as a an organic material would have degraded. As a result the pure nicotine has remained and subsequently hardened. The opening is obscured, preventing the bottle from its original purpose (fig. 6). It is conjecture that the obstruction is the cork stopper once attached to the lid, supported by beige coloration. Protruding from the assumed cork stopper is a thin, cylindrical upright post. It is difficult to distinguish the material, but from the surrounding context this piece could be the snuff spoon once attached to the cork. The hole on the inside of the lid also supports this hypothesis, given that the cavity is relative in size to the cylindrical post.
This Chinese snuff bottle, part of the Bliss M. And Mildred A. Wiant Collection, was plausibly made in the 19th century during the Qing dynasty. The medium of construction is porcelain, created from kaolin and petuntse and fired in a kiln until vitrified. Before firing, the snuff bottle was decorated with a dragon and landscape motif using copper oxide. This technique, known as underglaze was developed in China and is regarded as an major innovation
Diaz 9 in ceramics.
Based on the material and technique, this object was not intended for someone of a higher rank. Porcelain and the materials necessary for its creation were in high abundance in China, and therefore inexpensive to manufacture. More desirable materials include those less readily available, such as glass or lapis lazuli. The underglaze technique, while considered one of China’s major contribution to art, were the cheapest to manufacture and therefore less desirable. They also exhibited less artistic quality in relation to carved or painted glass pieces.
The dragon motif shows the mythical creature with its mouth gaping and eyes bulging, symbolizing strength and good fortune. It is flying over a landscape of rolling hills, among the cloud and surrounded by fire. In traditional Chinese art, the dragon is depicted chasing a fiery pearl symbolizing wisdom, enlightenment and spiritual essence. The pearl is lacking from this composition, but is present in the lid in the form as a physical pearl.
These every day objects, although created in a enormous variety of materials and techniques, all possess an element of artistic quality. Chinese snuff bottles were truly a working art form, valued for their aesthetic qualities as well as their function.
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