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Edward Choate O'Dell Collection

"The Founder's Collection"

Legacy collection

Edward Choate O'Dell founded the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society in 1969, setting in motion an organization that would become the defining institution of the field. His collection reflected the same broad curiosity that made him an effective advocate for the form, ranging across jade, hardstone, organic materials, metal, glass, ceramics, and inside-painted bottles, with quality and range as the guiding principles rather than material preference. When the Society's 1982 meeting was planned for New York City, the board approved a major exhibition drawn from the collection as a tribute to him. O'Dell died unexpectedly on March 24, 1982, at the age of 81, before the exhibition took place, and the catalogue that accompanied it became his memorial.

IMPORTANT dates

Edward Choate O'Dell founded the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society in 1969.

PUBLICATIONS

Ford, John Gilmore and Emily Byrne Curtis. Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Edward O'Dell Collection. Baltimore: The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, 1982. ISBN 9780960966806.

The bottles Edward Choate O'Dell assembled reflected the same breadth and curiosity he brought to founding the ICSBS itself, spanning the full range of Qing dynasty materials with quality as the only guiding principle.