The Met Collection
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Photo: Chen Xi Studio
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's snuff bottle holdings rank among the most extensive in the United States, built across more than a century through a series of significant bequests from New York collectors. The collection was substantial enough to support a dedicated exhibition drawn entirely from the museum's own holdings, with donors including Benjamin Altman, Edmund C. Converse, and Mary Stillman Harkness among those whose gifts shaped its depth and range. A selection of bottles is displayed in the Chinese Treasury, a dedicated gallery presenting objects drawn from Chinese treasure cabinets assembled throughout the late Ming and Qing dynasties.
Built across more than a century through the bequests of prominent New York collectors, the Met's snuff bottle holdings are among the most extensive in the United States, displayed in a dedicated gallery within one of the world's great encyclopedic museums.
Additional resources
From the collection
Painted enamel on copper with European woman and child
China, 18th century, Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795). Snuff bottle with European woman and child. Painted enamel on copper. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.314a, b.
Carved red lacquer with figures in landscape
China, 18th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Carved red lacquer with figures in a landscape. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.359a, b.
Glass imitating realgar
China, 18th–19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Glass imitating realgar. Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 91.1.1176a, b.
Yellow overlay glass with coin design
China, 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Yellow glass overlay on translucent gold ground, decorated with coins. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.265a, b.
Chalcedony carved with Eight Horses of Mu Wang
China, late 18th–early 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Chalcedony carved with the Eight Horses of Muwang. Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 02.18.955a, b.
Coral carved with boy flying a bird
China, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736–1795). Snuff bottle. Coral carved with a boy flying a bird. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.282a, b.
Overlay glass with fish
China, late 18th–early 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Overlay glass with fish; ivory and glass stopper. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.280a, b.
Porcelain in the form of an ear of corn
China (Jingdezhen), late 18th–19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Yellow-glazed porcelain modelled in the form of an ear of corn; amber stopper. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.390a, b.
Inside-painted double bottle with butterflies, flowers, and poem
China, 19th century, Qing dynasty. Double snuff bottle. Crystal, inside-painted with butterflies, flowers, and a poem. Bequest of Mrs. Fanny Shapiro, 1971. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 1971.117.2a–c.
Soft-paste porcelain moulded with festival scene
China, Qing dynasty, Jiaqing period (1796–1820). Snuff bottle. Soft-paste porcelain moulded with multiple figures in a festival scene. Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 14.40.507a, b.
Amethyst
China, late 18th–early 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Amethyst. Gift of Heber R. Bishop, 1902. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 02.18.941a, b.
Black amber with yellow amber stopper
China, 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Black amber with yellow amber stopper. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.198a, b.
Lacquer on metal embellished with hardstones
China, 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Lacquer on metal embellished with hardstones. Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 50.145.189a, b.
Carved polychrome lacquer with squirrels and grapes
China, 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Carved polychrome lacquer with squirrels playing among grapevines. Bequest of Edmund C. Converse, 1921. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 21.175.335a, b.
Carved blue glass with antiquarian design
China, late 18th–early 19th century, Qing dynasty. Snuff bottle. Carved blue glass with antiquarian design; rose quartz stopper. Bequest of Mrs. Fanny Shapiro, 1971. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 1971.117.3a, b.
Cloisonné enamel with cranes under a pine tree
China, Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795). Snuff bottle. Cloisonné enamel with cranes under a pine tree. Gift of Joan A. Schorsch, 2004. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: 2004.558a, b.
The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society
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