B79

Amber, honey coloured translucent material, each shoulder carved with lion mask and ring handles, sitting on a neat oval foot rim.

Chinese, 1750-1850
Stopper: Quartz
Provenance: R L Chant, 1975

Amber is the fossilized resin from a conifer tree. It was available to the Chinese throughout the Eighteenth and Nineteenth century, clear amber (as in this example) came from Burma. Amber is light and warms to the touch thus making it a delightful material from which to make a tactile snuff bottle.