In this poster, I am going to introduce a kind of beautiful collection – snuff bottle.
Snuff Bottle was first designed as a small bottle carrying remedy for common illness like colds, headaches and stomach disorders. With the use of snuff bottles, it gradually become a part of social ritual to use snuff. The highest status went to whomever had the rarest and finest snuff bottle.
“Inside painted” snuff bottles is the product from that trends, which has pictures and often calligraphy painted on the inside surface of the glass bottle. These delightful scenes are only an inch or two high and are painted while manipulating the brush through the neck of the bottle maybe only a quarter inch across, and also painted in reverse.
It has been said that a skilled artist may complete a simple bottle in a week while something special may take a month or more and that the best craftsmen will produce only a few bottles in a year.
Here is some photos of “Inside painted” snuff bottles. The first picture is a gift from my friend, I lost its cap during a move (T_T)
These two are not “inside painted”, but their irregular shapes make me decide to add them in the poster.
