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London-based artist Hannah Lim is reworking the forms and motifs of historical Chinese snuff bottles in larger, sculptural works informed by her British-Singaporean heritage and research into Chinoiserie. Her solo exhibition, “Reimaginings,” is on view at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath through Nov. 14, 2026; she is also planning further works and a public artwork in London.
British-Singaporean artist Hannah Lim is turning the compact form of historical Chinese snuff bottles into larger, often two-handed sculptures that draw on her heritage, museum research and Chinese mythology. The work is featured in her solo exhibition, “Reimaginings,” at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath, which is scheduled to run through Nov. 14, 2026, according to a report by Colossal.
Lim’s bottles take cues from objects she encountered in museum collections around the U.K. Traditional snuff bottles were small and portable, typically only a few inches in size. Lim enlarges the format and builds in decorative details, including painted or relief images of animals and imagined beings. Her works include titles such as “Phoenix Spirit House Snuff Bottle,” “Sleeping Tiger Snuff Bottle” and “Double Fish Snuff Bottle.”
She makes the structures from polymer clay and Jesmonite, a casting material combining mineral powder with liquid acrylic polymer. Chalk, acrylic paint and a gloss layer provide the finish. Lim also conceals a hanging charm inside each sculpture’s lid, referencing the small spoon traditionally attached to a snuff bottle lid, Colossal reported.
Her imagery draws from historical ceramics and classical Chinese writing, including The Classic of Mountains and Seas, a mythological text describing more than 550 mountains and 300 waterways. Lim told Colossal that its accounts of fantastical creatures have informed recent sculptures and paintings. She is also experimenting with different scales and materials, including metal, and has used laser-cut elements in works such as “Orchid Table.”
Reworking the Snuff Bottle Form
Lim’s sculptures connect an object associated with historical Chinese consumption and collecting to current questions about how cultural styles are borrowed, represented and reinterpreted. Their enlarged scale and contemporary materials make the bottle form an artistic subject in its own right, rather than a direct recreation of a small historical object.
That approach is tied to Lim’s research into Chinoiserie, the European fashion for imitating Chinese and other Asian motifs. The historical practice often adapted regional aesthetics for Western consumers. Lim says she aims to revisit that history more conscientiously, while drawing on her British-Singaporean heritage and specific cultural styles and processes. Her stated intention is the artist’s perspective; it does not by itself settle broader debates over cultural appropriation or representation.
The Bath exhibition gives audiences a chance to encounter this work in a museum setting. The report does not provide visitor figures, critical responses or details about the exhibition’s full selection, so its reception cannot yet be assessed from the available information.
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From Chinoiserie to Museum Research
Chinoiserie emerged as a European design phenomenon in the 17th and 18th centuries, when European makers adapted Chinese and other Asian visual motifs for Western markets. Lim has explored the subject for several years, according to Colossal. She says her practice seeks to reclaim and reimagine the tradition through research into particular cultural styles and techniques.
Snuff bottles developed in China in the 17th century, as snuff—a powdered, scented tobacco that was inhaled—became popular, particularly among affluent consumers. The tobacco originated in the Americas. Lim’s interest in the bottles followed her encounters with examples in U.K. museum collections; she began by experimenting with their ornament and later increased their scale.
Lim describes the series as changing alongside her research. She told Colossal that early works highlighted personal aspects of her heritage, while later pieces reflect different lines of inquiry. The sculptures’ mythology-inspired imagery, hidden charms and varied finishes translate those investigations into physical details.
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Exhibition Details and Reception
The available report does not list the full contents of “Reimaginings,” its attendance, or responses from the museum, visitors or critics. It also gives no further detail on the specific materials or schedule for Lim’s planned public artwork in Paddington. The exhibition end date and upcoming projects are reported, but additional information about those developments has not been provided.
Chinese mythological animal figurines
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Lim’s Upcoming Public Artwork
Lim’s solo exhibition is scheduled to remain at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath through Nov. 14, 2026. Colossal also reported that works were due to be shown later in October with Cynthia Corbett Gallery in Paris, and that Lim plans to present a new public artwork in Paddington, London, later in 2026. The report does not specify dates for the Paris presentation or the public artwork’s unveiling.
Her studio work is continuing as well: Lim says she is testing materials, including metal, and developing sculptural and painted work. Further details about those projects have not been announced in the source report.
large decorative snuff bottle sculpture
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Key Questions
Where can visitors see Hannah Lim’s snuff-bottle sculptures?
Lim’s solo exhibition “Reimaginings” is at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath through Nov. 14, 2026, according to Colossal.
How do Lim’s sculptures differ from traditional snuff bottles?
Traditional bottles were small and portable. Lim makes larger sculptures, often requiring both hands to hold, and adds painted or relief imagery and a concealed hanging charm referencing the traditional lid spoon.
What materials does Lim use?
Her reported materials include polymer clay, Jesmonite, chalk, acrylic paint and gloss. She is also experimenting with metal; the source does not specify which future works will use it.
What informs the imagery in the sculptures?
Lim draws on historical ceramics, her British-Singaporean heritage, research into Chinoiserie and mythological writing such as The Classic of Mountains and Seas.
What projects are planned after the Bath exhibition?
Colossal reported a presentation with Cynthia Corbett Gallery in Paris later in October and a new public artwork in Paddington, London, later in 2026. Specific dates and further project details were not included.
Source: rss
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