The Bookshelf
With Our Thanks
This database is the work of Richard Baey, who spent years reading, cataloguing, and annotating the literature of the field, and then gave the whole of it to the Society to share with the membership. A resource like this doesn't simply appear; it is built one entry at a time by someone willing to do the patient work. We are enormously grateful to him.

Periodical
Orientations (May/June 2021)
112
pp.
44
bottles
A long-running Asian art monthly with regular coverage of Chinese miniature arts. Its snuff-bottle articles tend to be short but well illustrated and timely.
2021

Periodical
Arts of Asia (Autumn 2022)
148
pp.
52
bottles
An Asian-art quarterly with recurring snuff-bottle features and market reports. Useful for keeping current on scholarship and auction results between the major catalogues.
2022

Book
The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles
428
pp.
1097
bottles
The landmark single-collection reference, and still a touchstone for connoisseurs. Its sheer breadth of over a thousand bottles has never really been matched in one volume.
1976

Catalog
Bonhams: The Mary & George Bloch Collection, Part IX
212
pp.
158
bottles
One installment of the most important snuff-bottle collection ever brought to market. Even as a sale catalogue it doubles as a serious reference on quality and range.
2016

Catalog
Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty
196
pp.
302
bottles
A foundational exhibition survey spanning all the major material groups. Modest in production but broad in scope, it remains a handy one-volume orientation to the field.
1978

Book
Inside-Painted Snuff Bottles: The Ma Shaoxuan Legacy
224
pp.
180
bottles
Focused study of the great inside-painting master Ma Shaoxuan and his lineage. Lawrence traces the school's development and its later imitators in careful detail.
2007

Catalog
Christie's Hong Kong: Important Chinese Snuff Bottles
184
pp.
142
bottles
The dispersal of a noted private collection, with a particularly strong inside-painted section. Provenance notes and estimates make it a useful market reference as well.
2019

Book
Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 1: Jade
352
pp.
210
bottles
First of the definitive Bloch Collection series, devoted entirely to jade. It sets the template of scale and scholarship the rest of the series would follow.
1995

Catalog
Miniature Masterpieces: Snuff Bottles of the Qing Court
288
pp.
196
bottles
Imperial workshop pieces gathered together for the first time in decades. The catalogue pairs strong plates with concise essays on Qing-court production.
2018

Book
Glass Snuff Bottles of China
264
pp.
245
bottles
Definitive treatment of overlay, enamelled and imperial glass wares. Kleiner catalogues the major glass types with unusual clarity, making it a first stop for the medium.
2002

Book
Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Study of the Adventures & Studies of a Collector
216
pp.
340
bottles
An affectionate early field guide, warm on the joys and pitfalls of collecting. Perry writes as an enthusiast rather than an academic, which is exactly its enduring charm.
1960

Book
The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection
640
pp.
453
bottles
Two-volume scholarly benchmark on the celebrated J & J holdings, with exhaustive material analysis and workshop attributions. Decades on, it remains the reference against which new scholarship is measured.
1993
Cover
Title
Type
Author / Publisher
Pages
Bottles

Orientations (May/June 2021)
A long-running Asian art monthly with regular coverage of Chinese miniature arts. Its snuff-bottle articles tend to be short but well illustrated and timely.
MorePeriodical
Orientations Magazine
112
44
Periodical
2021

Arts of Asia (Autumn 2022)
An Asian-art quarterly with recurring snuff-bottle features and market reports. Useful for keeping current on scholarship and auction results between the major catalogues.
MorePeriodical
Arts of Asia
148
52
Periodical
2022

The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles
The landmark single-collection reference, and still a touchstone for connoisseurs. Its sheer breadth of over a thousand bottles has never really been matched in one volume.
MoreBook
Bob C. Stevens
428
1097
Book
1976

Bonhams: The Mary & George Bloch Collection, Part IX
One installment of the most important snuff-bottle collection ever brought to market. Even as a sale catalogue it doubles as a serious reference on quality and range.
MoreCatalog
Bonhams
212
158
Catalog
2016

Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty
A foundational exhibition survey spanning all the major material groups. Modest in production but broad in scope, it remains a handy one-volume orientation to the field.
MoreCatalog
Hong Kong Museum of Art
196
302
Catalog
1978

Inside-Painted Snuff Bottles: The Ma Shaoxuan Legacy
Focused study of the great inside-painting master Ma Shaoxuan and his lineage. Lawrence traces the school's development and its later imitators in careful detail.
MoreBook
Clare Lawrence
224
180
Book
2007

Christie's Hong Kong: Important Chinese Snuff Bottles
The dispersal of a noted private collection, with a particularly strong inside-painted section. Provenance notes and estimates make it a useful market reference as well.
MoreCatalog
Christie's
184
142
Catalog
2019

Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 1: Jade
First of the definitive Bloch Collection series, devoted entirely to jade. It sets the template of scale and scholarship the rest of the series would follow.
MoreBook
Hugh Moss & Gerd Lester
352
210
Book
1995

Miniature Masterpieces: Snuff Bottles of the Qing Court
Imperial workshop pieces gathered together for the first time in decades. The catalogue pairs strong plates with concise essays on Qing-court production.
MoreCatalog
Palace Museum, Beijing
288
196
Catalog
2018

Glass Snuff Bottles of China
Definitive treatment of overlay, enamelled and imperial glass wares. Kleiner catalogues the major glass types with unusual clarity, making it a first stop for the medium.
MoreBook
Robert Kleiner
264
245
Book
2002

Chinese Snuff Bottles: A Study of the Adventures & Studies of a Collector
An affectionate early field guide, warm on the joys and pitfalls of collecting. Perry writes as an enthusiast rather than an academic, which is exactly its enduring charm.
MoreBook
Lilla S. Perry
216
340
Book
1960

The Art of the Chinese Snuff Bottle: The J & J Collection
Two-volume scholarly benchmark on the celebrated J & J holdings, with exhaustive material analysis and workshop attributions. Decades on, it remains the reference against which new scholarship is measured.
MoreBook
Hugh Moss, Victor Graham & Ka Bo Tsang
640
453
Book
1993

