Qianlong-Marked Blue Glass Snuff Bottle

The bottle is blown from transparent blue glass. The base is incised with a ‘Made in the Qianlong period’ mark.
Snuff was introduced to China around the early seventeenth century and became popular both at court and among commoners. 

Imperial snuff bottles were first made in the Kangxi reign and flourished during Qianlong’s rule. This bottle achieves a sapphire-like effect using cobalt as the colorant and sodium nitrate or arsenic oxide as clarifiers, demonstrating the Qing court’s mastery of European glassmaking techniques at the time.