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