More than 100 snuff bottles are being exhibited in a club inside the Gote d’azur (in pinyin: Weilanhaian) residential community.

Collected by Shenzhener Bao Chuanjiang, the snuff bottles date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Snuff bottles were used by the Chinese to hold powdered tobacco during the Qing Dynasty. Tobacco was originally smoked in pipes before the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in the mid-17th century. The use of snuff began and increased in popularity among the upper classes because the Chinese considered snuff to be a good remedy for many common illnesses like colds, headaches and stomach disorders. Therefore, snuff was carried in a small medicine bottle like other Chinese medicine at the time, hence the name snuff bottle. Snuff bottles are comparable to the snuff boxes used by Europeans.

The size of a snuff bottle was small enough to fit nicely inside a person’s palm. Snuff bottles were made from many different materials popular in China at the time, including porcelain, jade, ivory, wood, tortoiseshell, metal, ceramic and many more, however, the most commonly used material was glass. The stopper for the bottle usually had a very small spoon attached to it for extracting snuff out of the bottle. Snuff bottles were also decorated with paintings or carvings both inside and outside, which distinguished bottles of different qualities and values.

Dates: Through Nov. 30

Venue: Club No. 1, Gote d’azur I (蔚蓝海岸一期一号会所)

Add: Intersection of Houhai Thoroughfare and Chuangye Road, Nanshan District (南山区后海大道和创业路交汇处)

Buses: 19, 31, 37, 72, 109, 229, 322, 334

(SD News)