The World in the Palm of Your Hand: Chinese Snuff Bottles from Pacific Northwest Collections

August 25 – November 4, 2012

Study Gallery

Snuff bottles were used by the Chinese during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) to hold powdered tobacco that was used as a remedy for various illnesses. Diminutive in scale, made of precious materials, and often highly decorated, they became an important art form among the imperial elite.

An exhibition of 157 snuff bottles from regional collections will open August 25 and continue through November 4, 2012, at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. Organized by Asian art scholar and collector John Gilmore Ford, the exhibition will be timed to coincide with the annual meeting of the International Snuff Bottle Society in Portland, Oregon in October, 2012.

The World in the Palm of Your Hand: Chinese Snuff Bottles from Pacific Northwest Collections has been supported in part by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission. Greenwood’s lecture is co-sponsored by the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and the International Snuff Bottle Society.

LECTURE:
From the Macro to the Micro: Snuff Bottles and the Qianlong Court

Kevin Greenwood
Adjunct Lecturer, Art History, Willamette University
October 17 | 4:15 pm | Paulus Lecture Hall at the Willamette University College of Law at 245 Winter St. | Free and open to the public

In conjunction with the exhibition, Willamette University adjunct lecturer Kevin Greenwood will present an illustrated lecture on the history, medium, subject matter, and function of snuff bottles in the Qianlong court.

The museum will have free and extended hours between 5:00 and 6:30 p.m., following the lecture, for viewing of the exhibition.

Snuff bottle, Chinese, Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), private collection

Snuff bottle, Chinese, Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), private collection

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