Snuff
is powdered tobacco taken through the nose. Introduced
into
China by European traders around 1650, it remained
fashionable
until the early republican period.
The making snuff bottles flourished in the 18th and
19th centuries
and was endlessly innovative.
Materials ranged from bamboo to porcelain, from
copper to amber,
in shapes from a tiny ivory figurine to a shell.
Such skill meant
snuff bottles could be very expensive indeed — just
the gift
for someone who has everything.