Snuff Boxes

A snuff box is a small decorated box used for carrying powdered, scented tobacco known as snuff). Snuff was sniffed or inhaled and the taking of snuff became fashionable in 17th-century England and the habit quickly spread to other countries around the globe. Snuff boxes varied in sizes, from those small enough to fit in a waistcoat, to larger table boxes. The snuff box became an object for decoration by goldsmiths, enamelers and painters of miniatures. Typically the lid received the most decorative attention and nature designs were common decorative touches. The very wealthy added jewels or coats of arms to their boxes. Snuff boxes were popular as gifts for special occasions and the materials used for snuffboxes included silver, gold, brass, wood, porcelain, horn, and tortoise shell. An example of a special designed snuff box for the table is the mull, or silver mounted rams head/horn. Long after snuff taking became unpopular, snuff boxes continued to be made for gifting. Very collectible, all sizes of these boxes appear frequently at auctions and in antique stores, providing a broad market for collectors, with boxes to suit all price points.

George IV Silver-Gilt Snuff Box and William IV Silver Snuff Box. (1829 and 1830)

Christies New York 20 May 2015 Russian Works of Art, Important Silver and Objects of Vertu, Sale 3730 Lot 302

Famile Rose Porcelain Suff Box, Qianlong Period (1735-96)

Showing an image of a Dutch couple on the lid underside

Christies New York 18 January 2017 Chinese Export Art Sale 12597 Lot 371

Snuff Box (England date unknown) Wood with brass piqué.

Shoes are associated with love and marriage and shoe or boot forms were given as symbols of good luck

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom

Snuff Mull (Scotland) Pewter and Horn (1840s)

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Phillip Lloyd Powell (1919-1988)

Born in 1919, Phillip Lloyd Powell was a self-taught furniture maker who produced clean line and deceptively simple furniture. Powell started making small pieces for family and friends while in high school and after high school, went on to study engineering at Drexel University. The combination of these wood working and engineering skills is apparent in his work. After serving during World War II, Powell settled in New Hope, Pennsylvania, attracted by the local thriving artists community. In the early 1950s he began producing furniture and shared a studio for over a decade, with Paul Evans the designer and metal smith. The two worked together on several pieces. Powell soon gained a reputation for making strikingly modern pieces and producing pieces as and when he decided to make them. Perhaps his most recognizable works are his cabinets. There are thought to be less than 1,000 pieces in existence. Consequently, his work often achieves high prices at galleries and auction houses.

Pair of New Hope Lounge Chairs, ca. 1960. American Black Walnut. Freemans Philadelphia, Design Auction, June 4th 2018. Lot 75. 

Cabinet: Walnut and patinated steel Sculpted Steel wall-hanging cabinet, ca.1960. Sold at Christies, New York, SALE 2500 15 December 2010. Lot 110.

Custom Chaise Lounge, ca. 1960s. Burnt umber, fuchsia lacquer and silver gilding, new upholstery. Signed. Available in 2018 by Todd Merrill Studio, New York.