San Francisco Bay Area Snuff Bottle Meeting

On September 23, thirteen members of the San Francisco Bay Area Snuff
Bottle Collectors met at the Museo Italo-Americano at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.

The topic for discussion was snuff bottles made for the Literati and bottles that expressed Literati esthetics. As a preamble to sharing bottles, a presentation was made on the arduous Civil Service Examinations that were required to become Mandarins or Court officials. The fact that successful candidates became officials and were sent to remote areas where they had neither relatives nor business associates nor interests was discussed. Likewise, the meager stipend that such officials were given leading to many nefarious means to aggrandize that inadequate salary. This led to much bribery and interestingly one of the most popular items, besides money, was snuff bottles.

Our next meeting will occur on November 25, 2018, at the home of
Raymond Lum, where we will again review inside-painted snuff bottles.

Our 37th anniversary meeting, in January, will be held at the Hong Kong Flower Lounge Restaurant in Millbrae, where we will share a Dim Sum
Luncheon.

We remain a vibrant organization with a membership of about 40 members.

Respectfully submitted,
Vince Fausone