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Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

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Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes For Sale
Color:  Brown
Set of 3 Japanese Inro Pill Boxes
Located in Munich, DE
These three antique handcrafted inro cases, are a wonderful collection of Japanese Sagemono (hanging object). These inro have several sections stacked ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Japanese Anglo-Japanese Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Bone, Bamboo, Wood

Agate and Micromosaic Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
Intricate and flawless, the highly detailed micromosaic medallion on the lid of this agate box is an incredible example of this diminutive art form. The elaborate micromosaic depicts...
Category

19th Century European Other Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Agate

Three Dutch Tobacco Jar Hollande - 19th century
Located in Bruxelles, BE
Collection of five Dutch Tobacco Jar Netherlands, 19th century Fruit wood, Boxwood, Mahogany and Walnut Between 19 x 12,5 and 22 x 16,5 cm A collection of five fine Georgian Dutch T...
Category

19th Century Dutch Georgian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Boxwood, Fruitwood, Walnut

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

Dunhill Cork and Leather Tobacco Jar
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Handsome cork and leather tobacco jar from London. Beautiful patina to the cork and leather. Jar can be used as a tobacco, weed, or stash jar. Cork is a clas...
Category

1950s English Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Leather, Cork

Sterling Silver Art Deco "Risque" Cigarette Case of British Origin. Circa 1925
Located in Incline Village, NV
Art Deco "naughty" sterling silver novelty item; a cigarette case depicting a reclining nude woman on a bed in suggestive pose; hand painted enamel on oval raised plaque; with bright...
Category

1920s English Art Deco Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Enamel

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

A Large and impressive 19th Century Dutch Mahogany Turned Circular Box
Located in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
A good and impressively sized mid 19th Century finely turned Mahogany tobacco box with intricately turned lid. This most decorative and unusual piece is raised on three bun feet tur...
Category

19th Century Dutch Colonial Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Mahogany

Round Bonbonniere in Gold and Enamel, Louis XVI Period, 1779
By René-Antoine Bailleul 1
Located in Paris, FR
Bonbonnie`re, or candy box, in intricately patterned gold and translucent, ruby-red enamel. Thin bands of gold are inlaid in the enamel. A painted enamel medallion decorates the lid ...
Category

1770s French Louis XVI Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Gold, Enamel

Limoges France Hand Painted Dresser With Hat & Music Book Porcelain Trinket Box
Located in Tustin, CA
Collectible and very unique, Limoges porcelain miniature trinket box is handmade and hand painted in France and features a very detailed wood grain dresser with hand painted handles and paneled sides on cabriole legs. The fancy antique gold gilt finish ormolu mounts add authentic French flair which double as the rims or fittings of the box that open up to reveal a handpainted stack of shirts inside. The closure is a petite rococo style shell. On top of the dresser lays a yellow hat accented with a bow and a pink rose along with a music book...
Category

Late 20th Century French French Provincial Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Porcelain

Unique Limoges France Hand Painted Bellows Porcelain Trinket Box
Located in Tustin, CA
Collectible and very unique, Limoges porcelain miniature trinket box is handmade and hand painted in France and features a very detailed bellows with a hand-painted burning logs scen...
Category

Late 20th Century French French Provincial Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Porcelain

Beautiful Hand Crafted Cigar Humidor Box Catchall Antique Austria, 1910s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A cigar or desktop catchall box from Austria in the 1900s, made of patinated brass and wood, sounds like a unique and valuable antique. The fact that this particular box is an antique from the early 1900s adds to its value and collectability. Depending on the condition and other factors such as the brand or maker, it could be worth a significant amount of money to collectors of antique smoking...
Category

1910s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Metal

Set of Austrian Tobacco Jar and Cigar box
Located in Vienna, AT
A set of beautiful tobacco boxes made in Austria. Made i.n the Art Nouveau/Art Deco period. The measurements are: Depth: 14.5 cm - Width: 21 cm - Height: 6.5 cm Depth: 12.5 cm - ...
Category

20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Stone

Chinese lacquer Tobacco box with 24 carat pure gold decorations 1940s
Located in Palermo, Sicily
Chinese lacquer tobacco box with 24 carat pure gold decorations
Category

1940s Chinese Mid-Century Modern Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Gold Plate

Vintage Art Deco Walnut and Walnut-Root Box, Italy
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1930s - 1940s. Made in walnut and walnut-root. It is a vintage piece, but it's been recently restored, therefore it can be considered as in excellent condition and re...
Category

1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Walnut

French Snuff Box, circa 1800
Located in Chapel Hill, NC
Scarlet tole French snuff box, circa 1800, navette form - silver trimmed. 3.5" w, 1" h, 1.75" d Whitehall Antiques is a family business that has been...
Category

18th Century French Victorian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Tin

A Set of 2 Treen Pomanders in Yew Wood
Located in Chillerton, 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

A Primitive Snuff Box, Scandinavia 1847
Located in Hønefoss, 30
A Primitive Snuff Box dated 1847 and signed T.O. from Norway, Scandinaiva. Wear due to age and use showing wonderful patina. Ø: 5 cm H: 9 cm
Category

19th Century Norwegian Romantic Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Wood

Smoking Set, parchment ashtray, table lighter and cigars box, France 1950s
Located in Firenze, IT
Smoking Set, parchment, wood and brass ashtray, table lighter and cigars box France 1950 leather, wood & brass Ashtrays: H 7.5 x 15 x 15 cm Table Lighter: H 10.5 x 11 x 11 cm Ci...
Category

1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass

Micromosaic Gold Mounted Jasper Snuff Box Early 19th Century Italian Gioacchino
Located in Benington, Herts
An Exceptional and Highly Important Micromosaic Gold Mounted Jasper Snuff Box, most probably by Gioacchino Barberi with the box likely by Moulinié, ...
Category

Early 19th Century Italian Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Gold

Japanese Tabako-bon with Two Rabbits, c. 1920
Located in Chicago, IL
This wooden box is a Japanese tabako-bon, or 'tobacco tray,' used to store tobacco and smoking accessories. Believed to have evolved from the traditional ...
Category

Early 20th Century Japanese Taisho Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Bamboo, Bakelite, Hardwood

Gucci Vintage Tobacco Container Glass Box 1960s
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

18th Century Dutch Tobacco Box Engraved Brass Snuff Box Brass with Figures
Located in Milan, IT
18th century Dutch brass tobacco box with hinged lid engraved with five circular medallions containing the busts of male noblemen figures with inscriptions and dates, the most recent...
Category

Mid-18th Century French Romantic Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Other, Brass

1950s Staved Teak Humidor by ESA Denmark
By ESA
Located in Chula Vista, CA
1950s ESA High quality tobacco humidor made of staved teak wood. It provides a sufficiently humid microclimate. Aesthetically pleasing design with a spring-loaded screw lid. Ideal...
Category

1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Teak

Snuff Box Octagonal English Queen Anne style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Octagonal snuff box in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with borders in the English Queen Anne style and sides with translucent fired enamels on ...
Category

1980s Italian Queen Anne Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Enamel

19th Century French Papier Maché Snuff Box with Landscape and Figures Painting
Located in Milan, IT
French Painted Papier Maché Snuffbox 1800s. Snuff box of circular shape with fine painting on the lid depicting a mountain landscape with figures and herds crossing a river, a dove f...
Category

Mid-19th Century French Romantic Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Other

Antique Qajar Period Persian Papier Machê Snuff Box Depicting Chovgan or Polo
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine antique Persian papier machê snuff box. Consisting of a lacquered papier machê with decoration to the lid and all 4 sides. The lid...
Category

Early 20th Century Unknown Islamic Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Paper

Box Cannister Caddy Brass Tobacco Tea Dutch
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
A charming early tobacco box or tea cannister Unusual, large size Lovely soft contours which enhances the reflection of light in the interior Original condition including hinges length 21cm., 8 1/4" depth 7.5cm., 3" height 11cm., 4 1/2". The Dutch were the main importers of tobacco in the 18th century and manufactured tobacco boxes to sell with...
Category

18th Century Dutch Baroque Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass

Snuffbox Miniature Pastoral Image Sterling Silver Enamel Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling Silver gold plated with hand-painted miniature pastoral image fired enamelled. 18th century French style. Diameter cm. 8 cm high. 1.8. Weight gr. 171. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1968 on inspiration from previous boxes also manufactured in the Salimbeni company headquarters with manual workmanship by talented artisan artists with a thick plate suitable for supporting numerous glazing firings at high heat at around 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...
Category

1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Sterling Silver, Enamel

Russian USSR Made Black and Red Lacquered Snuff Box, Signed and Dated
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Rectangular Black and Red Lacquered Snuff Box, Signed and Dated 1971. This tobacco snuff box is richly and colorfully decorated with a winter scene showing 3 people riding a sleigh in the snow being pulled by 3 wild horses. This Soviet-era box has a strong and great condition red lacquer on the inside and fine gilded decorations running around the edges of the box. The box is signed and dated on the front cover and with hand-written "Made in USSR...
Category

Mid-20th Century Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass

Tortoise Bakelite Box
Located in New York, NY
Tortoise bakelite box. Vintage thirties Italian Boxing Federation cigarette box. Faux tortoise and yellow bakelite circular cigarette holder in the form of bound fasces with lid displaying Federazione Pugilistica Italiana medallion and fasces handle; a fascist era...
Category

1930s Italian Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Bakelite

Indian Mughal Style Gem-Set Gilt Brass Snuff Box in Elephant Shape
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Vintage gilt brass lidded trinket snuff box with red and turquoise stone inlaid in the form of an elephant with trump up. Vintage Indian Mughal style metal brass and set with dozens...
Category

Mid-20th Century Indian Anglo Raj Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Stone, Metal, Brass

Antique 18th Century Dutch Brass Oval Etched Snuff Tobacco Trinket Box 5"
Located in Dayton, OH
Antique Dutch 18th century oval shaped brass tobacco snuff box with hinged lid, engraved with a low relief pattern of two figures flanked by angels.
Category

18th Century Dutch Colonial Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass

Incense Holder Modern White Wood and Antiqued Bronze Casting by Alabama Sawyer
Located in Birmingham, AL
These beautiful incense holders pay homage to a unique natural, salvaged, urban wood as a material and an icon. They are made from cast bronze and urban wood. Bleached hackberry is a favorite for it's unique light, spalted grain. Contrasted with an antiqued, hand-cast bronze element, this unique object fits well on a coffee table, meditation room...
Category

2010s American Organic Modern Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Bronze

Cigar Humidor, Ebony Macassar Cigar Box, France 1960, Brown Color
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
Very nice humidor cigar box, in Macassar ebony. This box is large, was made in France in the 1960s. It has a brown and tan color.
Category

1960s French Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Ebony

Post-Modern Tessellated Pink Marble and Red Travertine Box by Maitland Smith
Located in Miami, FL
Post Modern tobacco or snuff box rendered in tessellated pink marble and rosso travertino, red travertine with brass inlay, brown velvet and wood interior by Maitland Smith. Match...
Category

Late 20th Century Philippine Post-Modern Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Travertine, Marble, Brass

Japanese Tokyo Shop Tabako-Bon
Located in Chicago, IL
This wooden box is a Japanese tabako-bon, or 'tobacco tray,' used to store tobacco and smoking accessories. Believed to have evolved from the traditional ...
Category

Early 20th Century Japanese Taisho Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass, Sheet Metal

English Porcelain Patch Box with Irish References, ""Forget Not Erin" Motto
Located in Downingtown, PA
English porcelain gold-ground botanical patch box with Irish references, "Forget Not Erin" Motto, Attributed to Coalport, Circa 1820 This spectacular English porcelain box is of cir...
Category

1820s English Regency Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Porcelain

Luxury Exotic Wood and Bronze Dugout by William Stuart for Costantini Design
Located in New York, NY
Luxury Exotic Wood and Bronze Dugout by William Stuart for Costantini Design 3.75" H x 1.75 W x 0.5" D Costantini founder William Stuart has bough...
Category

2010s Argentine Modern Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Bronze

Leather Covered Tobacco Box, or Box, in Ceramic and Wood Brown, France 1940
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
This snuffbox, or tobacco box, covered with leather, brown in color. The underside of the lid is made of wood, and the inside of the pot is ceramic. The object has been signed by the...
Category

1940s Art Deco Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Ceramic, Leather, Wood

19th Century French 18K Gold Royal Presentation Snuff Box, c.1850
By Louis-François Tronquoy 1
Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Antique mid 19th century French 18k gold snuff box, of lobed design with chased scroll and foliate decoration, the hinged cover inset with a circula...
Category

19th Century French Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Gold

19th Century Japanese Inro with 5 Lacquered Wood Compartments
Located in Marseille, FR
19th Century Japanese inro with 5 lacquered wooden compartments, 93 x 50 x 30 mm in size. Weight 59.2 g. Additional information: Material: Lacquered ...
Category

19th Century Japanese Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Wood

Vintage David T Smith Primitive Pipe Box w Drawer Match Stick Holder
Located in Dayton, OH
Vintage Poplar pipe box with drawer (item #42), by David T. Smith Cabinetmakers, circa 1980s. David T Smith specialized in American Colonial reproductions using old world methods and...
Category

1980s American Colonial Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Poplar, Paint

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

Incense Holder Modern Walnut Wood and Antiqued Bronze Casting
Located in Birmingham, AL
These beautiful incense holders pay homage to wood as a material and an icon. They are made from cast bronze and urban wood. Walnut, elm or our "gulf sand" light give choices of dark...
Category

2010s American Organic Modern Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Bronze

MId-19th Century Antique Brass English Snuff Box Etched Design
Located in Stamford, CT
Mid 20th century antique brass snuff box with a beautiful etched design. A nice piece for any collector or just great little snuff box. From a ...
Category

Mid-19th Century English Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass

19th Century Wooden Shoe Shaped Snuff Boxes
Located in Delft, NL
19th century wooden shoe shaped snuff boxes Snuff boxes in the shape of a shoe. One papier-mache, one pewter and one wooden. The papier-mache and the pewter have a flap at the top. The wooden snuff...
Category

19th Century Dutch Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Pewter

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

Tiny Regency Partridgewood Tea Caddy
Located in Bedfordshire, GB
A charming and extremely rare Regency period 19th century partridge wood tea caddy, of incredibly small proportions, having elegant pagoda shaped top enclosing lined interior raised on original brass ball feet. This is one of the smallest tea caddies we have ever seen. It also really is very charming indeed. The shape has real elegance and the overall package is just so very rare. Partridge wood is a wood imported from South America towards the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Available in particularly small sheets it was almost exclusively used in cross banded, or inlaid decorations or for very small decorative boxes...
Category

Early 19th Century English Regency Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Other

1950s Hermès Cigarette Holder
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Classic vintage Hermès cigarette box. Cigarette box is heavy and wrapped in leather. Cornucopia (Horn of Plenty) decorative lid. Removable metal i...
Category

1950s French Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Metal

Japanese Gilt Takamaki-E Tabako-Bon, C. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
This box with many drawers is a Japanese tabako-bon, or 'tobacco tray,' used to store tobacco and smoking accessories. Believed to have evolved from the t...
Category

Mid-19th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass

Gold and Agate Snuff Box Belonging to Anne, First Duchess of Buccleuch
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
This oval gold snuff box is inscribed with a crest of ‘a stag trippant’ within mantling of upright ostrich plumes tied with a bow, all below a ducal coronet and above a cypher of the entwined initials ‘B.A.B.’ for Anne of Buccleuch. English, circa 1670. Provenance: Anne, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch Anne Scott, 1st Duchess of Buccleuch (1651-1732) was a wealthy Scottish peeress. After her father died when she was a few months old, and her sisters by the time she was 10, she inherited the family’s titles. She was married, at 12 years old, to James, 1st Duke of Monmouth, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II, then 14. Following the king’s death in February 1685, James spearheaded an anti-Catholic revolt to depose the new king, James II, and claim the throne from his uncle. The brief Monmouth Rebellion ended in defeat and James, by then Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch, was executed for treason. The Duchess had six children by Monmouth, and a further three by her second husband, Charles, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, whom she married in 1688. She died in 1732 and was succeeded by her grandson, Francis, Earl of Dalkeith. The style of chasing used on this box is very reminiscent of a signed piece in the Gilbert...
Category

1670s English Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Agate, Gold

Midcentury Burnished Alabaster Cream Trinket Box, Pill Case, Ormolu, Labelled
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Midcentury burnished alabaster cream trinket box, pill case, ormolu, labeled.
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Neoclassical Revival Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Alabaster

Japanese Keyaki Elm Tabako-Bon, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This box with many drawers is a Japanese tabako-bon, or 'tobacco tray,' used to store tobacco and smoking accessories. Believed to have evolved from the t...
Category

Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Brass

Decorative Box in olive wood, brown color, brutalist style, France circa 1950
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
Box in olive wood, free-form. With a lid that turns and can be removed from the base of the box. The shape of this box is free and sinuous, which makes it very original and rare. The...
Category

1950s French Brutalist Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Wood, Olive

Rare Rockwell Kent for Chase Bacchus Art Deco Copper Cigarette Box
Located in St. Louis, MO
Rockwell Kent (American, 1882-1971) Rare Bacchus Art Deco copper cigarette box for Chase Chrome & Brass company, only offered in 1935 and 1936. Rockwell Kent designed only three items for chase, all with the same young Bacchus motiff, and all are considered rare today. The other two were a "Wine cooler" and "Wine bottle stand...
Category

1930s American Art Deco Vintage Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Copper

Early 19th Century Hand Painted Stobwasser Type Papier Mache Table Snuff Box
By Stobwasser
Located in London, GB
A superb quality large early 19th century rectangular papier mache table snuff box with hand painted interior scene Circa 1800 to 1810. A note inside relating to the original owner. ...
Category

Early 1800s German Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Paper

Five-Case Inrō 19th Century Signed Kajikawa Saku Japanese Lacquer Box
Located in Milano, IT
Signed: “Kajikawa saku” and with a red pot seal Height: 3 1/8in (7.9cm) Provenance: Michael Tomkinson Collection Leonard Haber Collection Literature: Michael Tomkinson, A Japanese Collection, London: George Allen, 1898, no. 300 Each case with slightly recessed joints and with different grounds, including kinji, nashiji, togidashi maki-e and gyobu-nashiji, on the obverse decorated with a treasure ship laden with the attributes of the Seven Gods...
Category

19th Century Japanese Antique Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

Materials

Wood, Lacquer

Antique Snuffboxes and Tobacco Boxes

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. Today antique snuffboxes and tobacco boxes — as well as other vintage tobacco accessories — are collectibles and charming pieces of decor for any display case or to elevate your bookshelves.

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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