Sex & Snuff
The first time I saw one, I was dumbstruck. It was in an antique market in Amish country, deep in the boondocks of Pennsylvania. There, amidst the knickknacks and ephemera that formerly adorned the homes of Keystone-staters, sat a decidedly out of place objet d'art. Its purpose unknown to me at the time (beyond its obvious function as a vessel), but what caught my attention was the erotica engraved into the bone surface.
I asked the proprietor of the booth about its origins and was met with an uninterested shrug. “Found it at an old estate sale where I bought a bunch of junk,” was the response. I don’t know entirely why, but something came over me and I needed to take the bottle to a new home and learn more about this strange piece of history.
The next day, back in New York City with my pervy new jar, I set out to learn about its provenance. It turns out that back in the mid-Qing dynasty (circa 18th century China), snuff was the jam. Smoking was considered unpleasant and wasn’t welcome in the royal court. However that wasn’t the case for smoking tobacco’s quirky nephew, snuff. At the time, throughout China and a variety of other countries around the world, insufflating (sniffing) a blend of tobacco and others herbs was where the party was at. The adorned vessels used to keep their snuff safe and dry became a way to brandish your personality or flex a little of your own je ne sais quoi to your pals. Indeed a little internet searching will produce a handful of interesting auction results for these artistic treasures. Sotheby’s has a great round up of (non-erotic) bottles, and 1st Dibs has a collection of options often available. Unsurprisingly, these highbrow establishments haven’t highlighted sex-focused specimens in their anthologies. But that’s not to say they aren’t out there.
This got me thinking. Why is it seemingly so hard to find more information about the sex scene versions of these bottles in any of the antiquarian literature. Prudishness aside, I think there might be something else to consider. The art and materiality of the upper echelon mirrored their interests and status. Jade and porcelain surfaces adorned with equestrian scenes, elaborate landscapes, and other oft-referenced dog whistles for wealth were the motif du jour for many of the aristocracy. But as snuff trickled down into the masses and became an egalitarian vice enjoyed by many, so too did the artwork that adorned the bottle need to (d)evolve. In the most literal sense of the phrase, art imitated life and as such, more carnal, proletariat pleasures found their way onto the scrimshaw etchings of everyday snuff bottles. At least this is my theory.
To me, these objects are no less valuable, or interesting than their hifalutin brethren. But it’s interesting to observe that even modern society has put different values on these more elite specimens; even going as far as omitting them from anthologic assemblages. However, I for one am appreciative of the pure, human desires that are depicted on these bottles I’ve picked up over the years. And as I walk the collections strewn across folding tables and curio cabinets at flea markets and antique shops, I always keep my eyes open to find the stories of our shared, raw, essential humanity hiding in plain sight waiting to be discovered.