Featured Snuff bottles

As per @Any Jewelry request....
I have only purchased a few and in some cases I shouldn’t have at all. The first eight bottles probably are 21st c. But they were next to nothing and one has to have something to compare to.

The last four I do like, even though I know little about them and would appreciate all opinions on them. I am not expecting much. I have only been buying them for the past few months and wont spend more then $25 or so. I just dabble here and there untill I have earned a better eye for them.

I appreciate your time always.

 

The ones in the first photo are all inside painted, always amazing work. Yes, they are recent, but nice quality. The stoppers are agate.
This is an art that is still taught at Chinese Art Academies.

The second photo are also inside painted. The bottom two are fairly recent, probably late 20th century, with agate stoppers.
The top two look pre-WWII. I have one similar to the little inside painted overlay bottle which came from a 1920s collection. The stopper on that one is Peking glass, as is the bottle.

The last four, which you like, are the best. Could you post a photo of the base of the agate one? And is the stopper attached with some kind of putty?

The jade one (with the 'top hat') is beautiful, and antique. Hetian/Khotan pebble jade, made from stones they find in rivers in the Hetian region of Xinjiang in the west of China.
If the colours on my screen are right, the colour could be considered mutton fat, the most highly prized colour for collectors. The rough part is the 'skin' of the jade, collectors love that too. The colour of the skin is called russet, if you google Hetian russet jade you'll find more.
The top part of the stopper is agate/carnelian, I can't see what the bottom disc is made off. Does it have a bone spoon?
So an antique Hetian mutton fat(?) jade bottle with russet skin and original stopper. A real little treasure.

The two overlay ones are elegant beauties.
The blue one could be ca 1900-1920, the stopper is silver or silver plated copper cannetille (the name of those filigree thingies), topped with a turquoise.
The double overlay one is later. More layers usually means more value, manufacture and carving takes more skill. Is the middle layer aubergine colour? I always love that. Lotus flowers symbolize purity and spiritual growth.
The brass spoon and stopper are recent.

 

I love the information you have on these ((((BIGHUG)))). I wouldn’t know jade from concrete(ok, thats not exactly true ).

Here are a few more images of the agate bottle and jade spoon(one with flash and one without). The bottom of the agate looks as if something was screatched off, eh maybe not and yes, the stopper is held in with a puddy like substance that I have no reason to try and open. It obviously was put there for a reason. I can hold it up to the light and see a spoon inside.

The jade bottle disk on spoon has a glass look but I’m just going to say RUBY, LOL. just kidding.

 

The bottom of the agate one looks good. A hollowed out base, that's what we want. It isn't mandatory, but it indicates more attention to detail, and less chance of mass production.
My guesstimate is that it is antique, but agate can be difficult to date. It looks like the stopper is coral. A very good bottle, and if you can remove the putty junk without damaging anything, that would increase the value.

The spoon of the jade one is bone. It is still hard to see the material of the disc. It could be glass, which is often combined with real stones. But ruby sounds nice of course. Shall we settle on ruby glass?

The former owner loved sticking junk on his/her bottles. Maybe scared the bottles fell over and whatever it is stuck it to the shelf?

 

A local auction house bought modern ones by the cases. They had a lot of nine or ten "times the money" every week. They were actually hand made, hand painted. The 'inside painted' was actually painted on an outside that was later covered with another layer of glass.

 

Yes, the recent ones are often handmade and some very well.

Ah, that is cheating. Lazy so-and-so's. In this thread is a video of how it should be done:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/chinese-snuff-bottles-cameo-carved-and.23777/page-3

 

I may have posted the same comment back then, but, talk about tedious!!!!!!!

 

And in private she is a very bubbly person, chatty, giggling, all over the place in a fun way. Maybe this is her way of calming down.

 

I can understand THAT.....when I get stressed, I can (and DO) get lost in editing an image I was playing with and hardly at all hear DH either talking to me or asking me a question!!!!!