Featured Antique? Tibetan snuff bottle, silver and coral.

Hi all!
Another compulsive buy...
Not in hand yet, so the pics are those of the listing
Coral is genuine coral
I don't know what the character on bottom says, but it seems there is a tiny European hallmark on the edge.
The seller says she couldn't remove the stopper, so some work on that and kyratize the lacking coral cabs!

 

Can't wait to see what you do to this baby!!!!!

Hope it arrives to you soon.

 

Ha! Thanks! It is due to arrive today... But I'm on vacation for the week...

 

Oh boy!!!

 

It says Da-Ming (Ming dynasty) on the base which of course means it isn't Ming. As such it is very unlikely to have a European hallmark unless it was an official import which went through the assaying process. Could be silver or could be 'Tibetan (not) Silver', date could really be anywhere in the 20thC.

 

Love the bottle, kyra. It is Chinese, and imo late 20th century. It looks like it could be silver.
Tibetan is a typical seller's pitch, snuff bottles are not really part of the Tibetan tradition. But as we know from the forum, to many people Tibet is a magic word.

The seller could be confused by the red coral and turquoise combination, which is a favourite in Tibet, but the Chinese also love it. The colours are symbolic of Yang and Yin, together they bring balance and harmony, and the stones are valued by the Chinese.
I have a couple of antique Chinese silver items which are also decorated with red coral and turquoise.

 

Haha, seller only described it as "Jolie fiole asiatique", I thought Tibet... And was wrong
Agree it is not very very old but better than tourist pieces I'm impatient to take this stopper of and see if there is a spoon...

 

I would happily to welcome it into our home.

I'm sure there is. If it doesn't come unstuck willingly, try some lighter fluid.

 

Which it is.

 

Enjoy your vacation Kyra!

Merry Christmas.....or Happy Holidays............

 

THAT looks SO NEAT!!!!!!!!!!! Can't WAIT to see what you do with it!!!! BUT in the meantime, ENJOY your VACATION and HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!!!!!

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I can't add anything to the bottle, but bonne vacances!

 

Thanks to all of you who wished me "Bonnes vacances" or happy holidays

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ANTIQUERS GANG!

 

Merry christmas and have a wonderfull holiday
Kyratango!

 

Bonnes vacances et Joyeux Noël, ma copine.

 

Will you test the metal? If so let us know if it’s silver please. I always assume these “Tibetan Silver” snuff bottles are just modern alpaca metal style knockoffs. You’d be the the one to find the diamond in that potential rough though.

 

I keep seeing this as jolie folie asiatique.

Welcome back.

 

'Tibetan silver' is a Chinese base metal, used for mass produced cheap items.
Nice quality items like this hand made snuff bottle would not be marketed as 'Tibetan silver', and indeed, this one wasn't.

 

It arrived!
From listing pics, I saw tiny hallmarks on the bottom rim...
RIGHT! French weevil mark for foreign silver at least 800 fineness. And another on the bottom which looked like a bump on pic is a weevil too

Bad news: the stopper isn't removable!
Boiling water poured on it, plus WD40 gave no result, and there is no evidence of a seam under a loupe...