Snuff bottles worth millions to be auctioned in Hong Kong

Christie's will offer a collection of 37 fine and rare snuff bottles from a private American collection for auction on Oct 7 at its Hong Kong office. Highlights include two enameled glass snuff bottles with an estimated value between 4-5 million HK dollars ($258,000-387,000).

The collection dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Several pieces were made during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1711-99) in imperial workshops, says Christie's vice-president and senior specialist Ruben Lien.

Lien says that enameled glass bottles required great skills in the control of temperatures of the glass body and those of the painted enamels. "Imagine that in the Qing Dynasty there were no thermometers; controlling temperatures totally depended on the experience of craftsmen. A craftsman with lesser skills would have ended up with his bottles deformed in the kilns."