Chinese Snuff Boxes

Glass Overlay

Among the most fascinating objects of the Qing dynasty, Chinese overlay glass snuff bottles—or double-glazed snuff bottles—embody a rare synthesis of technical innovation, aesthetic refinement, and literate culture. While their use became widespread with the introduction of snuff in the 17th century, it was in the 18th century, under the reigns of Kangxi and then Qianlong, that these small bottles reached their artistic peak. Made in the imperial workshops of Beijing or in renowned glassmaking centers such as Yangzhou and Boshan, they illustrate the ambition to condense the imperial universe into a few centimeters of engraved glass.

Snuff Bottle circa 1850

The principle of overlay glass, or doubled glass, is based on a complex technique. A first layer of glass—translucent, opalescent, white, pink, or yellow—is blown into a precise shape. One or more layers of colored glass are then applied hot to this base. Once the piece has cooled, the artisan proceeds to engrave the top layer, revealing the hollow decoration. Each motif thus exposed reveals the background color. It is this alchemy of superimposed layers, cold carving, and mastery of volumes that gives overlay snuff bottles their unique visual depth. Some pieces feature a snowy background (xue di boli), a white glass studded with fine bubbles, evoking a diffuse or milky mist—highly prized for the softness it lends to the decorations. Others, just as refined, feature a transparent background, pale blue, turquoise, or even light purple, playing on internal light and contrast effects.

These flasks were much more than simple containers. They were presented at court, exchanged between scholars, or commissioned as tokens of favor. The shape of the flask—round, flat, pear-shaped, or hexagonal—was never left to chance. It interacted with the motif, often engraved in reserve: imperial dragons, bats, lotus flowers, peonies, scholarly landscapes, or auspicious characters such as 福 (happiness), 壽 (longevity), 喜 (joy). These images, far from being decorative, formed a coded language in which every detail had its purpose.

Engraving overlay glass was extremely technical and required perfect precision. The colored layer had to be thick enough to allow for a deep cut, but without piercing the base. In some cases, the artisan would multiply the layers—up to three—to create effects of superposition and perspective. The final result depended as much on the blower as on the engraver, and the best bottles demonstrate a perfect symbiosis of form, decoration, and material.

Snow-ground snuff bottles, while exceptional, are therefore only one expression of a broader diversity. It is this wealth of variation—from clear glass to milky ground, from ruby ​​red to celadon green, from fine engraving to high-relief sculpture—that makes overlay glass snuff bottles highly collectible objects today. They are featured in all the major collections: the Palace Museum in Beijing, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Musée Cernuschi in Paris. Some pieces, signed or attributed to imperial master glassmakers, reach peaks at public auction, particularly those associated with the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns.

Collecting these bottles means entering a world of imperial miniatures where glass becomes language. Each piece tells a silent story—that of an empire conceived in symbols, of craftsmanship taken to its peak, and of a Chinese view of the world through transparency. Our gallery offers a careful selection of Chinese snuff bottles in overlay glass, with snowy or translucent backgrounds, each accompanied by a comprehensive leaflet and carefully documented provenance. They can be viewed in the gallery or online, in a space dedicated to the imperial art of miniatures.

References and Selected Bibliography

– Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles, Weatherhill, 1976

– Lilla S. Perry, Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Adventures and Studies of a Collector, Tuttle, 1960

– Hugh Moss, Victor Graham, Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 1993

– Clare Chu (ed.), Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, 2000–2010