Turquoise Toned Glazed Snuff Bottle with Chinese Characters on Ceramic Panel

Small, airtight snuff bottles were created in China after Jesuit missionaries introduced powdered tobacco in the mid 17th century. They were designed to better suit the humid climate than the snuff boxes common in Europe. As snuff-taking became a fashionable pastime, the bottles evolved into elaborate accessories which today are collectors’ items. 
 
Most of our collection, like this piece, are not particularly elaborate however and after consulting an appraiser, we confirmed such visiting antique shops where common looking snuff bottles were not selling for very much. Only two of ours were singled out for a higher price. This was not one of them.
 
We believe this bottle is ceramic with a turquoise toned glaze with a textured pattern surrounding the ceramic panels with red Chinese characters on them. We were unable to translate the letters. There is also a Chinese character on the base of this piece but it too is illegible. As visible from the size of the base, this piece does not stand upright, the base too small.
 
 
The interior appears clean. On the faces however, the characters are faded or worn off and there is a remnant of an original price sticker on one side. There are two notches near or on the rim of the mouth. The wood spoon is not believed to be original, the original stopper lost at some point in time. 
 
We believe our grandmother inherited this from the Burr sisters who visited China in the 1920s and 1930s. It appears never used for anything other than decorative purposes.
 
H 2 1/4” x L 2” x D 1/2”
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.