Snuff Bottle Auction Timeline
1994 – 35 snuff bottles were first sold by Beijing Hanhai auction house. A snuff bottle named “Farewell My 
Concubine” was sold for 260,000 HK dollars. The sale of another white snuff bottle for 1.23 million HK dollars cemented the snuff bottle’s million dollar price tag.
1996 – At the Beijing Hanhai auction in October, a rose color snuff bottle less than 5 cm in height from the Qianlong period, Qing dynasty, was sold for a lofty price of RMB 1.045 million.
1997 – At the Hong Kong Sotheby’s auction, a glass embryo color enameled painting snuff bottle from the Qing dynasty was sold for 1.67 million HK dollars. Another similar one was sold for 515,000 HK dollars.
1999 – At the Beijing Hanhai autumn auction, a royal rose color golden gourd-shaped snuff bottle from the Qianlong period was sold for RMB 1.155 million.
2005 – During the snuff bottle auction at Christie’s in New York, all except one were sold including a royal color-enameled western character painting snuff bottle from the Qianlong period, Qing dynasty, sold for 5.50 million USD, becoming the highest price sold on record.
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