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Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes For Sale
A Very Fine Early 20th Century Enamelled Sterling Silver Cigarette Case
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
The front of the case exhibiting an exquisite hand painted panel depicting sprays of irises in shades of lavender, royal blue & green, set against a radiant white enamelled machined ...
Category
Mid-20th Century English Machine Age Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Early 19th Century Gold and Enamel Box, Swiss Work
Located in Paris, FR
Rectangular box with three tones of gold and royal blue enamel. The hinged lid is embellished with a multicolored gold medallion in relief featuring a bouquet of roses and tulips, se...
Category
Early 19th Century Swiss Empire Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold
19th Century, 1897, Victorian Sterling Silver and Enamel Vesta Case
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
A fine and impressive antique Victorian English sterling silver and enamel envelope style vesta case; an addition to our silver case collection
This fine antique Victorian English s...
Category
1890s English Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver, Sterling Silver
Zanotta Servofumo Ashtray Stand by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
By Zanotta
Located in New York, NY
Ashtray stand. Base in polypropylene, container in aluminium and steel support frame, painted in the shade black for outdoors.
Category
2010s Italian Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Aluminum, Steel
An Ormolu Mounted Mennecy Double Snuff Box in the Form of a Barrel, Circa 1740
Located in Spencertown, NY
The white ground floral decorated snuff box with openings at both ends, one opening revealing painted initials D.V. for Duc de Villroy.
Category
Mid-18th Century French Rococo Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Ormolu
Terracota "Head" tabacco pot XIX century
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
Rare terracota tabacco boxe showing a head of an old Breton
End of XIX century around 1900
France
Category
Early 1900s French Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Terracotta
Antique Old English Tobacco Box, Mahogany with Brass Banding
Located in New Orleans, LA
A wonderful old tobacco box with handsome banding.
Category
Late 19th Century English Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Brass
Snuffbox basket with flowers, in Florentine Renaissance style, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rounded rectangular snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling Silver gold plated with beautiful fire enamelled miniature hand-painted by the painter Renato Dainelli of a basket with flowers, in ...
Category
1960s Italian Napoleon III Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
CARVED BLACK FOREST WOOD SMOKiNG PIPE CABINET BOX LATIN INSCRIBED NIL NISI CRUCE
By Black Forest
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this stunning, hand carved Black Forest wood, smoking pipe cabinet or rack with inscribed top reading "Nil N...
Category
1870s German Black Forest Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Wood
Continental Niello and Silver Gilt Snuff Box, Early 19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
No apparent hallmarks. The diaper pattern filled with small crosses throughout and the opening with a slight lip.
Category
Early 19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver
18th Century South Staffordshire Snuff Box - 'Musicians in parkland'
Located in Basildon, GB
An 18th Century South Staffordshire Snuff Box, decorated with a couple and two seated musicians in parkland, the sides with small panels within rai...
Category
18th Century English Rococo Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Bronze, Enamel
$1,594 Sale Price
40% Off
German Neoclassical Painted Lacquer Snuff Box, Early 19th Century
By Stobwasser
Located in Spencertown, NY
German neoclassical round snuff box with ancient Roman scene.
Category
Early 19th Century German Neoclassical Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Lacquer
Antique French Art Deco Silver Box
Located in New York, NY
French Art Deco 950 silver box, ca 1920. Round and flat. Concentric engine turned ornament with engraved flowers on top center and patera on bottom center. Gilt interior. Sweet and p...
Category
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver
English Porcelain Cottage Pastille Burner, circa 1820
Located in New York, NY
English Porcelain cottage pastille burner, circa 1820.
Category
1820s English Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Porcelain
A Fine & Rare Sterling Silver Snuff Box Made For The Great Exhibition of 1851
By Foxall & Co.
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
A fine and rare 19th century sterling silver snuff box made specifically for the Great Exhibition of 1851, held at the Crystal Palace in Londo...
Category
Mid-19th Century British Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
French Carved Snuff Box, Mid-19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
The elaborately carved snuff box with a scene of two mermaids on the cover and deeply carved shell on the reverse.
Category
Mid-19th Century French Rococo Revival Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Boxwood
Carved Shoe Form Treen Snuff Box with Carved Shamrock, 19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
Probably Irish given the carved shamrock, with hinged top and robust leaf like carving. A small chip to bottom of toe and two small holes on the bottom likely from former mounting.
Category
19th Century Irish Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Wood
11 Victorian Ormolu-Mounted Banded Orange Agate Snuff Boxes, 19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
Boxes of varying shapes and sizes. Some round, oval, square and rectangular.
Category
19th Century English Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
$1,600 Sale Price / set
20% Off
Snuffbox Head of the Statue of Liberty in New York hand painted Sterling Silver
Located in Firenze, FI
Rounded rectangular snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver with fine hand-painted fire-enamelled miniature depicting the Head of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Dimensions cm. 5.5 x 7 x 1.8. Weight gr. 105. Designed by Giorgio Salimbeni in 1975 in Art Deco style and executed in numerous specimens, at the specific request of the firm Tiffany & Co., in Florence in the headquarters of the Salimbeni firm with completely manual execution by artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for sustaining numerous high-fire enamelled firings at approximately 750 < 800° C.
Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions.
It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books.
Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items.
Hand-painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques.
The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds:
1) Fire enamel.
2) Water tempera on an ivory plate.
3) Painted on mother-of-pearl.
Fire enameled miniatures:
On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors.
With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color.
It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times.
Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene.
Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors.
The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real...
Category
1970s Italian Art Deco Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Unusual Horn and Silver Puzzle Snuff Box, 19th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
The outer ring slides to allow the snuff box to be opened. Engraved Silver Monogram on top.
Category
19th Century English Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Horn
$1,200 Sale Price
52% Off
Snuff Box White Fire Enamel with Miniature of Bird Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fire enamel on guilloche and hand-painted miniature of stylized blue bird, late 19th-century Viennese Art Nou...
Category
1970s Italian Art Deco Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver, Enamel
18th Century Bilston Enamel Patch Box / Bonbonniere Circa 1780
Located in Basildon, GB
18th Century Bilston Enamel Patch Box / Bonbonniere Circa 1780, white ground, hand-painted floral motifs around outside, base and lid, white interior.
60mm high x 55mm wide x 55mm ...
Category
18th Century English Rococo Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Bronze, Enamel
$956 Sale Price
40% Off
Gucci Vintage Tobacco Container Glass Box 1960s
By Gucci
Located in Munich, DE
Gucci Vintage tobacco container or candy box made in glass and stitched leather and the typical green red fabric stripes and made by Gucci in the 1960s...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Leather, Fabric, Glass
19th Century Chinese Cloisonné Enamel Brass Trinket Box
Located in Marbella, ES
19th century Chinese cloisonné enamel brass trinket box.
Category
Mid-19th Century Chinese Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Metal
French School 1790 Louis XVI Oval Snuff Box in 18kt Gold with Miniature Portrait
Located in Miami, FL
Presentation Snuff box from the 18th century French School.
A very important and rare Neoclassical oval box, made in Paris, France circa 1790. It was crafted with translucent natu...
Category
1790s French Neoclassical Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold
Early 20th Century Swedish Burled Birch Wood and Mahogany Tobacco Box
Located in Middleburg, VA
A little poem in wood, this early 20th-century Swedish tobacco box is a quiet testament to the beauty of everyday ritual. Hand-turned from golden-hued burled birch, its surface is al...
Category
Early 20th Century Swedish Arts and Crafts Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Metal, Brass
George III Rococco Pressed Tortoiseshell, Ormolu, Bilston/Battersea Snuff Box
Located in London, GB
An extremely rare antique English George III Rococo pressed tortoiseshell, ormolu and Battersea enamel snuff box. This beautiful oblong box is in pristine condition and has been well...
Category
1760s English Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Enamel, Ormolu
Drum Shape Silver Gilt Bronze Box, 19th Century
Located in San Francisco, CA
An unusual antique gilded and silver gilt bronze box in the form of a drum.
Beautiful quality, detail and having good solid weight.
We cannot find any markings possibly English or...
Category
19th Century European Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Bronze
18th Century South Staffordshire Snuff Box
Located in Basildon, GB
An 18th Century South Staffordshire Snuff Box, painted with figures and a boat by a classical colonnade . 3.25" wide x 2.5" depth x 1.5" high
Category
18th Century English Rococo Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Bronze, Enamel
$797 Sale Price
40% Off
Shepherd's box or snuff box. Carved antler or horn. Spain, 1861.
Located in Madrid, ES
Pastoral box. Carved antler, wood, metal. Spanish school, 1861.
Submit registrations.
Oval box made of antler carved in its color, with wood on the lid to reinforce it, decorated o...
Category
1860s Spanish Neoclassical Revival Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Other
Egg Shaped Enamel Box
Located in Essex, MA
Depicting land battles and a seascape. Gilt metal fittings.
Category
1790s European Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Enamel
Silver Mustard Pot / Antique Sterling Sliver Seasoning Pot
Located in BILBAO, ES
Silver mustard pot / Antique sterling sliver seasoning pot
Antique sterling silver mustard / glass lined seasoning pot 1919
Beautifully crafted ant...
Category
1610s British Romantic Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver, Sterling Silver
Rare George IV period gilt sterling silver topers snuff box made in London 1821
Located in London, London
Hallmarked in London in 1821 by Christopher John Buckler, this handsome, Antique Sterling Silver Snuff Box, is gilt, and features a cast "Topers" scene on the lid of three gentlemen ...
Category
1820s English George IV Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
Austrian Bombe Form Dinanderie Tobacco Box, 19th Century or Earlier
Located in Atlanta, GA
Austrian, 19th century or earlier.
A fine quality antiqued tobacco box of bombe form with a hinged lid.
Category
19th Century Austrian Campaign Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Brass, Tin
19th Century Victorian Solid Silver Guard Tower Table Lighter, London, c.1878
Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Antique 19th century Victorian novelty solid silver table lighter, unusually shaped as a "guard tower", realistically modelled with simulated brick-work, door and archers windows, wi...
Category
19th Century British Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
18th Century Bilston Enamel Patch / Snuff Box - Double Hinged
Located in Basildon, GB
18th Century Bilston Enamel Patch / Snuff Box - Hinged on both base and lid, the base is decorated with gentlemen walking outside a church, while the lid has an embossed female port...
Category
18th Century English George III Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Bronze, Enamel
$1,594 Sale Price
20% Off
20th Century French Hand Painted Ceramic Ashtray by Longwy Stamped and Numbered
Located in Sofia, BG
Hand painted oval ceramic ashtray with small covered part in the middle. The top of it is decorated with flowers and leaves in bright colours. There are numerous stamps and numbers o...
Category
Early 20th Century French Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Ceramic
Antique Victorian Silver Decorative Table Snuff Box 1861 Horse Racing
By George Unite
Located in London, GB
An impressive Antique Victorian solid Silver Table Snuff Box with an ornate chased border and an engraved horse racing scene on the lid. The rectangular Box has a decorative shaped b...
Category
19th Century English Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Sterling Silver
$6,643 Sale Price
20% Off
18th Century, English Georgian Lead Tobacco Keeper - Horse Finial
Located in Atlanta, GA
English, mid 18th century.
A great neoclassical example of an English community tobacco keeper. These traditional boxes are made of lead and design...
Category
Mid-18th Century British Neoclassical Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Lead
Bucks County Pa Carved Snuff Box
Located in Charleston, SC
Bucks County Pa carved snuff box.
Category
19th Century American Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Wood
$1,280 Sale Price
20% Off
Set of 24 Painted Papier Mache and Metal Snuff Boxes
Located in Long Island City, NY
This diverse set of early 19th-century English painted snuff boxes, of various shapes and sizes, are finely decorated with a variety of subjects, inc...
Category
1830s English George IV Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Metal
Very Early 19th Century Engine Turned Silver Gilt Musical Snuff Box
Located in London, GB
A very early 19th century and fine engine turned silver gilt musical snuffbox. The case stamped F.M. and with early 19th century Swiss export marks and European import marks. Comb bar stamped C.Z bedplate C6. Serial number 147. The cylinder movement with three train weighted escape, 23 part sectional comb with all teeth in pairs, comb bar and fitting screws blued, engraved in script in bedplate verso- 'Jn. Pre. Desire, A Geneva, fecit, an 1813'. Playing a complex single air, in the small superbly engine tooled case...
Category
1810s Swiss Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silk
Russian Silver Niello Tobacco Box, Moscow, circa 1820-1830
Located in Sarasota, FL
Russian silver niello tobacco box with finely etched pastoral scenes and interior gold wash. The box is marked on inside with "84" for Russian si...
Category
Early 19th Century European Empire Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver
German Silver Gilt Oval Tobacco Box, Augsburg, circa 1720
Located in New York, NY
Maker Elias Adams. Finely engraved with arabesques on cover, shoulder and body.
Category
1720s Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver
Not only for tobacco: Cast Iron English Old Box
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
Rare English tobacco cast iron box, Victorian time: for connoisseurs !
If You don't smoke, it serves as a paperweight and it's beautiful to admire on You...
Category
19th Century English Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Cast Stone
A Set of 2 Treen Pomanders in Yew Wood
Located in Godshill, Isle of Wight
A Set of 2 Treen Pomanders in Yew Wood
2 small round early 19th century yew wood lady's pomanders, these unscrew in the centre with scent holes to both sides. one of these has what ...
Category
19th Century Georgian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Yew
Onnaing Style Barbotine Tobacco Box Reading Pig, 19th Century
By Onnaing
Located in Paris, FR
Onnaing style barbotine tobacco box representing a sitting pig with a cane, wearing glasses and a blue hat, smoking and reading a French newspaper called "La Viene". Around it, three...
Category
19th Century French Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Faience
Japanese Inro XIXth Century with 3 Lacquered Wood Boxes
Located in Marseille, FR
19th Century Japanese inro with 3 lacquered wooden compartments, 63 x 70 x 22 mm in size. Weight 39.1 g.
Additional information:
Material: Lacquered ...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Wood
19th Century French Red Aventurine Top Silver Box
Located in Marbella, ES
19th century French red aventurine top silver box.
Category
18th Century French Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Porphyry, Silver
Twenty-Two Miniature Boxes Mounted with Silvered and Gilt Metal
Located in London, GB
This set of 22 boxes contains examples of different sizes and shapes that are produced using different materials and techniques. The boxes contain a variety of stone specimens, such ...
Category
Late 19th Century European Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Agate, Lapis Lazuli, Metal
Silver Oval Box, 19th Century, with Hallmarks
Located in Madrid, ES
Oval box. Silver, 19th centu.
With contrast marks.
Oval box with flat lid made of silver, partially gilded, decorated on the outside with figurative scenes ...
Category
19th Century European Neoclassical Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver
Antique 19th Century Victorian Lignum Vitae Bulldog Tobacco Jar c.1890
Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Antique 19th Century Victorian lignum vitae tobacco jar carved in the form of a bulldog head. The detail is of exceptional quality, featuring glass eyes, small pretruding white teeth...
Category
1890s British Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Glass, Wood
19th Century English Tortoiseshell Hinged Box with Silver Decorations
Located in Marbella, ES
19th century English tortoiseshell hinged box with silver decorations.
Category
19th Century English Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Tortoise Shell
Japanese Inro with 4 19th Century Boxes in Gold Lacquer with Matt Kinji Backgrou
Located in Marseille, FR
Japanese inro with 4 XIXth century boxes in gold lacquer with matt kinji background decorated in gold taka makiyé of different tones. Lacquered wood measuring 65 x 70 x 22 mm. Weight...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Lacquer
Mid-19th Century Limoges Enamel Flask
By Limoges
Located in Paris, FR
Small flask in Limoges enamel and silver mounts with its original stopper. All of its surfaces are decorated with figures set in a gallant landscape. On the body, a couple of young l...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver, Enamel
19th Century French Papier Mâché Hand Painted Round Trinket Box
Located in Marbella, ES
19th century French papier mâché hand painted round trinket box.
Category
Mid-20th Century French Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Paper
George III Gold Mounted Snuff Box for a Lady Made in London, circa 1790
Located in London, GB
A Fine George III Gold Mounted Snuff Box, Most Probably for a Lady. Made Almost Certainly in London circa 1790.
The Snuff Box is of an unusual smaller size and was most probably for...
Category
18th Century English George III Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
20th Century Italian Solid Silver Oval Tobacco Box
Located in VALENZA, IT
Solid silver box for tobacco.
The box was made entirely by hand starting from a silver sheet and subsequently shaped and welded giving it an oval and rounded shape.
The external part of the body of the box has been polished with pumice stone making it smooth and shiny, while the hand hammering is clearly visible inside the box.
The lid was embossed and hand engraved with the figure of a Scottish man...
Category
1990s Italian Other Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Silver
Rare Chinese Tonkin Ware Shakudo Sawasa Erotic Tobacco Box
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A ruyi-shaped Shakudo-style erotic tobacco or snuff box, relief-decorated with silvered applied figures
Possibly Jakarta (Batavia), first half 18th century
Measures: H. 2.2 x L. 12.1 x W. 8 cm
This box is very much in the Dutch taste, for the illustration is after a print with a legend reading “L’oiseau sans cage. Prenez, belle, mon oiseau. C’est le plus doux présent que je puisse vous faire. Pour les autres oiseaux, la cage d’ordinaire est une espèce de tombeau. Mais le mien semble prendre une nouvelle vie, Lorsqu’il sera dans la cage de mon aimable Silvie.” The erotic message is as clear as can be.
In Dutch culture the verb ‘vogelen’ (catching a bird) is another word for having sex and a bird escaping from his cage indicates loss of chastity. The lady with the bare breasts, while making the sign of sealed lips to the lady behind her, who is pointing towards heaven, seems to be caressing the bird held in the sleeping man’s groin. 17th century Dutch pictures...
Category
Early 18th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Gold, Silver, Bronze
Chinese Brass Box with Chinese Letter Inscriptions on the Top
Located in Marbella, ES
Chinese Brass Box with Chinese Letter Inscriptions on the Top.
Category
Late 20th Century Chinese Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes
Materials
Brass
Antique Snuffboxes for Sale on 1stDibs
Today antique snuffboxes and tobacco boxes — as well as a lot of other vintage tobacco accessories — are collectibles and charming pieces of decor for any display case or to elevate your bookshelves.
Snuff, made of ground tobacco, was especially popular with Europeans in the 1600s. The ornate boxes to keep the powder dry became highly decorative by the 18th century. It was considered a must-have item, particularly for nobility.
The most important feature of a snuffbox was that it was airtight. The box protected the snuff from oxygen. Another crucial component was the flat lid.
Snuffboxes could be small enough to fit into a pocket or a larger container for communal use at the table. They also came in different shapes. Porcelain containers were prevalent and often designed to look like trunks. Others were oval or square. Boxes made with cowrie shells were rare and more expensive.
Snuffboxes were usually crafted from silver, gold, horn or tortoiseshell. Some of the most prestigious snuffboxes were French tabatières made of gold and sometimes glass. They could be adorned with amethysts, sapphires and diamonds and enameled, engraved or chased.
Sheffield, England, was known for its silver snuffboxes in the late 18th century as its silver-plating technologies perfected these containers. By the early 19th century, the silver industry in Birmingham, England, was producing elegant snuffboxes with images of abbeys and castles on the sides and top.
Another type of tobacco box was the snuff mull or mill. It was made out of horn or an entire ram’s head and topped with a metal lid, frequently featuring engravings and decorative hinges. These were fashionable in Scotland during the 19th century. The origin of its name is unclear.
On 1stDibs, find a plentiful range of antique snuffboxes and tobacco boxes to complement any home decor or furniture style. You can browse the collection by style, which includes Victorian, Georgian and Art Deco, or by material to find pieces in silver and gold.
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