Images(2)

Snuff Bottle

Original OwnerOriginally owned by Yung Di Chu (Chinese)

Original OwnerOriginally owned by Amy Chase (American, 1890 - 1978)

Date1900-1907

MediumBottle (.a): Mold-blown colorless non-lead glass with peach, brown, green, and black paint. Lid (.b): Green non-lead glass, cork, bamboo.

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (height including lid x width x depth ): 3 1/8 x 1 1/2 x 1/2in. (7.9 x 3.8 x 1.3cm)

ClassificationsGlassware

Credit LineGift of Barbara Hancock Chase Mayer in memory of her father, Harry Hancock Chase

Object number1986.212.4a-b

DescriptionMold-blown colorless non-lead glass snuff bottle with a lid. The flat snuff bottle (.a) has a cylindrical neck, rounded shoulders, straight sides, and a short foot and flat bottom. The interior of the bottle is ground, and the interior sides are hand-painted. One side shows a Chinese landscape of a tall cliff or mountain, with a house and trees in the foreground. Several Chinese characters are painted to the left of the cliff. A duck, flowers, and large leaves in a marsh are painted on the opposite side of the snuff bottle.

The lid (.b), formed from green non-lead glass, is in the shape of a half sphere. The lid rests on top of the cylindrical neck of the snuff bottle. A small cylinder of cork is attached on the bottom center of the lid. A bamboo stick with a flattened area at the opposite end emerges from the cork cylinder. When the lid is on the bottle, the cork and bamboo are located inside the bottle.

NotesHistorical Note: This snuff bottle (1986.212.4a,b) was given to a Connecticut family by Yung Di Chu, a Chinese student in Connecticut in 1907. It is possible that she was the daughter of a participant in the Chinese Educational Mission. The Chinese Educational Mission was founded in 1872 by Yung Wing, a Chinese graduate of Yale University. The program was funded by the Chinese government to bring boys from China to the United States for the purpose of educating them and then returning them to their homeland to enter government service. The students were sponsored by various families in Hartford and the surrounding towns. In 1881, prior to finishing the program, the boys were recalled and the program was ended when a conservative government came into power in China. The Connecticut Historical Society owns clothing worn by Liang Chi Chiang (1973.40.1-.12), a Chinese boy who was sent at age ten to study in Hartford in 1908-1909. The boy's father, Liang Tun-Yen, had been sent to Connecticut as part of the Chinese Educational Mission. (Hunt 4/5/2005)

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