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London-based artist Hannah Lim is reworking the form and motifs of traditional Chinese snuff bottles in large, playful sculptures informed by her British-Singaporean heritage. Her solo exhibition, Reimaginings, is on view at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath through November 14, 2026; she is also developing new work and a public artwork in London.
British-Singaporean artist Hannah Lim is reworking the compact form of traditional Chinese snuff bottles as larger, sculptural objects that draw on her heritage, historical ceramics and Chinese mythology. Her solo exhibition, Reimaginings, is on view at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath through November 14, 2026, according to a report by Colossal.
Traditional snuff bottles were small containers for powdered, scented tobacco, which was inhaled using a tiny spoon. The form emerged in China in the 17th century, and ornate examples vary in design and material. Lim became interested in them after seeing bottles in museum collections around the U.K. She began adapting their decorative motifs, then enlarged the form: her sculptures stand several inches tall and typically need to be held with both hands.
Lim’s works combine polymer clay and Jesmonite, a casting material made from mineral powder and liquid acrylic polymer. She finishes them with chalk, acrylic paint and gloss, and adds painted or relief portraits of animals and imagined creatures. A charm concealed inside each lid refers to the small spoon attached to the lid of a traditional bottle.
The report describes Lim’s practice as informed by historical ceramics, classical Chinese literature and her British-Singaporean background. Her research also engages with Chinoiserie, a European design fashion that borrowed and reworked Chinese and other Asian motifs for Western consumers. Lim says her work aims to reconsider that history more conscientiously. She has also been experimenting with metal and laser-cut elements, including in a work titled Orchid Table.
Reworking Chinoiserie Through Sculpture
Lim’s bottle sculptures bring a historical object and its decorative language into contemporary art, while changing its scale and use. Their size makes a form once designed to be portable and discreet into something viewers encounter as sculpture. That shift is part of the work’s subject: Lim is not simply reproducing antique designs, but using them as a point of departure for personal and historical research.
The reference to Chinoiserie also gives the work a wider cultural frame. The style involved European makers borrowing Asian motifs for Western audiences, a history Lim says she wants to reconsider. Her approach matters to viewers because it connects the visual appeal of these objects with questions about who interprets cultural styles and how those histories can be addressed. The source report presents this as Lim’s artistic intention, not as a claim that the work resolves those questions.
traditional Chinese snuff bottles replica
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From Portable Bottle to Large-Scale Work
Snuff became popular among affluent consumers in China after its introduction in the 17th century. The tobacco itself originated in the Americas; it was powdered and scented, then inhaled directly through the nose. Snuff bottles were made in varied ornate designs and small enough to carry. Their lids could hold a tiny spoon used to take the powder.
Lim’s interest developed through encounters with examples in U.K. museum collections. In her account to Colossal, she says early bottle works highlighted personal aspects of her heritage; later pieces have reflected different stages of her research. Her sources include The Classic of Mountains and Seas, an ancient Chinese text describing more than 550 mountains and 300 waterways, much of it through fantastical accounts. Lim says creatures described in the text have inspired recent sculptures and paintings.
Alongside the Bath exhibition, the report says Lim will show works with Cynthia Corbett Gallery in Paris later in October 2026 and plans to unveil a new public artwork in Paddington, London, later in 2026. It also notes her continuing experiments with materials and bespoke frames that extend the imagery of her paintings.
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Details Still Awaiting Confirmation
The source report does not give the number of works in Reimaginings, exhibition attendance figures or further details about the Paddington public artwork, including its final design and installation date. It also does not specify which works will be shown in Paris or the exact dates of that presentation. The stated schedules and plans are those reported in October 2026; changes have not been confirmed in the material provided.
Lim’s statements explain her aims and sources, but the report does not provide independent assessments of how audiences or curators interpret the sculptures. No further details are available here about the artist’s next materials or the timing of future projects beyond the dates stated.
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Exhibition and Projects Through 2026
Reimaginings remains on view at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath through November 14, 2026. Lim is also expected to show work with Cynthia Corbett Gallery in Paris later in October and to unveil a new public artwork in Paddington later this year, according to Colossal. The report does not provide exact dates for those events.
Lim says she is continuing to test materials, including metal, and explore laser-cut elements and frames that extend her paintings. Further details about those works and the London public artwork will depend on announcements from the artist or the venues involved.
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Key Questions
Where can visitors see Hannah Lim’s work in the U.K.?
Her solo exhibition, Reimaginings, is on view at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath through November 14, 2026.
What is a traditional snuff bottle?
It is a small container associated with powdered, scented tobacco, which users took with a tiny spoon and inhaled through the nose. The form emerged in China in the 17th century.
How are Lim’s sculptures different from historical bottles?
Lim’s versions are several inches tall and generally need to be held with both hands, rather than being small and portable. They also combine materials such as polymer clay and Jesmonite with painted or relief imagery.
What influences the imagery in the sculptures?
Lim draws on her British-Singaporean heritage, historical ceramics and Chinese literature, including The Classic of Mountains and Seas. The report says its accounts of fantastical creatures have informed recent work.
What other projects are planned for 2026?
Colossal reports that Lim will show works with Cynthia Corbett Gallery in Paris later in October and plans to unveil a public artwork in Paddington, London, later in 2026. Exact dates and further project details were not supplied.
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