Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 12. (Budapest, 1970)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM — MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Horváth, Tibor: Report on the Activities of the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts in 1968

Fig. 9. Mongolia. Snuff bottle. End of 19th, beginning of 20th century. H.: 10,5 cm. Inv. No.: 68.24. This is a traditional ovate flattened flask equipped with a tiny spoon in its screwable top. It Is made of root with a mantle of silver decoration and inlaid with semi-precious stones. A narrow silver band runs all around the bottle. The part which is root without any silver decoration forms about the half of the body, the upper part, below the shoulders, as well as the shoulders and the neck are covered in silver. There is wood of different kinds to be found on either side, one is of a deeper brown shade, the fundamental colour of the other is of a lighter shade, it has no grain but there are some darker spots to be found on the surface. The upper part covered in silver has a delicate filigree spiral line ornamentation surrounding a decoration of semi-precious stones, consisting of two coral stones placed beside each other and a malachite stone placed above them. Where the two sides meet there is a decoration running lengthwise with a pair of two malachite stones each with a coral in between. The spiral filigree decoration appears once again running around the lower part of the bottleneck but the ring accordingly is a smaller one. There is a three lined silver decoration running around the top of the bottle. The stopper which is covered in silver and decorated with coral and malachite stones has a malachite on the top which completes the design. This snuff bottle is a precious and interesting representative of Mongolian industrial art successfully involving ancient and the modern using of old traditional shape decorated with silver and semi-precious stones but applying root as a material which is a new type for snuff bottles. This attractive piece indicates the effort of this nature in Mongolian art. I. G