Bottle ID: 421

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LIMONITE

Date: 1760-1840

Height: 39 mm

Limonite, a natural pebble of variegated brown and yellow color; of small, irregular ovoid form, possibly with natural hollowing.

Similar Examples:

Moss, Hugh, Victor Graham and Ka Bo Tsang. A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles - The Mary and George Bloch Collection, 1998, Vol. 3, pp. 43-47, no. 390.
Hidden Treasures of the Dragon - Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collections of Humphrey K.F. Hui, Margaret Polak and Christopher C.H. Sin, 1992, pp. 116-117, no. 234.

Provenance:

Hugh Moss (HK) Ltd.
Chinese Antiques, Hong Kong (April 1999)

Limonite is an iron ore and an extremely rare material in the snuff bottle world. The material forms, often in swampy areas, leaving naturally hollow pebbles. Indeed the word ‘limonite’ (also known as ‘bog-ore’) comes from the Greek word for ‘meadow’ – an allusion to its occurrence in meadows or marshes. Limonite has been noted in Chinese archival sources which suggests the probability that some snuff bottles were found in this form, as appears to be the case here, since the inside is a little irregular. This is the only known miniature in the material.

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