Oscar Raphael Collection
The British Museum
Photo: petersbigadventure.com; Cover photo: Jim Stephenson
The British Museum's Chinese holdings in the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia rank among the finest outside of Asia, built in part through the remarkable generosity of collectors whose gifts shaped the collection over generations. Among the most significant was Oscar Charles Raphael (1874–1941), a founding member and President of the Oriental Ceramic Society whose eye for quality was regarded as exceptional even among the leading connoisseurs of his day. At his death in 1941, Raphael bequeathed a large collection of predominantly Oriental objects to the British Museum including a number of outstanding snuff bottles that remain among the highlights of the institution's Chinese decorative holdings.
The works bequeathed by Oscar Raphael, founding member and President of the Oriental Ceramic Society, stand as a testament to one of the most discerning collector's eyes of his generation.
Additional resources
From the collection
Porcelain painted snuff bottle with a Katydid, long-horned grasshopper in overglaze enamels.
China (Jingdezhen), 1821–1850, Qing dynasty, Daoguang reign. Snuff bottle with stopper. Porcelain, glazed and painted in overglaze enamels. Donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks. © The British Museum. Museum number: Franks.646.+.
Banded agate of dragons chasing pearl
China, circa 1760–1850, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Banded agate carved with dragons chasing a pearl; stopper of green jadeite with ivory collar and spoon. Bequeathed by Oscar Raphael, 1945. © The British Museum. Museum number: 1945,1017.290.
Porcelain with scene of children in garden
China (Canton), 18th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle with stopper. Enamelled copper decorated with children in a garden. Bequeathed by Oscar Raphael, 1945. © The British Museum. Museum number: 1945,1017.368.
Tourmalinated quartz
China, 1780–1850, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Tourmaline quartz; stopper of metal and carnelian. Bequeathed by Oscar Raphael, 1945. © The British Museum. Museum number: 1945,1017.269.
Fossiliferous limestone
China, circa 1780–1850, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Fossiliferous limestone carved with taotie and ring shoulders; brass stopper with pink coral and metal ring. Bequeathed by Oscar Raphael, 1945. © The British Museum. Museum number: 1945,1017.292.
Overlay glass with crabs and millet
China (possibly Beijing, Imperial Workshop), circa 1780–1830, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Snowflake glass overlaid with red, decorated with crabs and millet; stopper of green and coral glass with tortoiseshell spoon. Bequeathed by Oscar Raphael, 1945. © The British Museum. Museum number: 1945,1017.339.
Porcelain with 8 Buddhist emblems
China, circa 1780–1820, Qing dynasty, Qianlong–Jiaqing reigns. Snuff bottle with stopper. Coral-red glazed porcelain, moulded, carved, and openwork, imitating carved red lacquer, with jade-inlaid metal stopper; decorated with eight Buddhist emblems and clouds. Bequeathed by Oscar Raphael, 1945. © The British Museum. Museum number: 1945,1017.348.
Blue glass with aventurine spots
China (possibly Beijing), circa 1750–1850, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Mould-made blue opaque glass with aventurine spots, imitating lapis lazuli; metal stopper. Bequeathed by Felix Slade, 1873. © The British Museum. Museum number: 1873,0502.2.
The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society
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