Antique Gold Gilded Silver Plated Brass Pocket Snuff Box Original Snuff Spoon
ANTIQUE GOLD GILDED SILVER PLATED BRASS POCKET SNUFF BOX ORIGINAL SNUFF SPOON. PLEASE VISIT MY NEW WEST COAST TRADING POST STORE! IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF MY LISTINGS. ANTIQUE GOLD GILDED SILVER PLATED BRASS POCKET SNUFF BOX. WITH ORIGINAL SNUFF SPOON CIRCA LATE 1800's.
This is a Scarce Antique oval shaped brass snuff box, with the original tiny snuff spoon, dating to around the late 1800's to early 1900's. In the mid 18th century up through the turn of the 20th century, nearly all men used tobacco; and snuff (finely ground tobacco that was snorted) was a favorite, and quite in vogue. Snuff boxes are known in a variety of different shapes, sizes, materials and craftsmanship. This one is hand made from sheet brass, with a 3 dimensional line decoration pattern on the top.
The top has been shaped into a rippled line pattern that is soldered to the top half. The inside has a folding lid hinged to the bottom part that is a separate piece that holds the snuff spoon and also seals the snuff by closing tightly into the bottom base when closed with a small lip that fits inside the base, and a thin protrusion around the edge that seals the top and bottom with a tiny lip that fits on top of the base edge. The top and bottom both have a small protrusion in the front to help open and close the box. This piece is gold gilded on the inside of the top lid, the lid and spring of the base, as well as the end of the tiny spoon.
Because of the gold gilding, it can be assumed that the brass case is silver plated; and the wear pattern to the bottom also suggests it is silver plated. However, I have no way of testing this, and so it is possible the plating is nickel. The top outside hinged cover closes over the inside lid and closes tightly to the base. The top of this inside lid has the original small snuff spoon that is held tightly in place by a small spring loaded tab that is held in place by two tiny pins.
The user would simply open the top, remove the snuff spoon, open the inside lid of the bottom base to expose the snuff, and use the spoon to scoop up the snuff and hold underneath the nose to snort the finely ground powdered tobacco up the nose. This was far more "civilized" that the typical method of taking a pinch of snuff from a container with your fingers (a pinch), placing it on the back of the hand, and then snorting the snuff. This piece has been polished over time, and has a light patina overall, with light scattered discolorations to the ribbed tip and more so to the bottom, non-display side.
There are no dings or dents, but is in good, used condition. Note that the inside of the base and lid have a green coating over the gold gilding. I assume this coating is a residual residue of snuff chemically reacting to the gold gilding from the moisture in the snuff that was left in the base for a long period. Both the inside lid to the base and the outside cover lid close securely. These pieces vary in size, and this one is slightly larger that another one I had at 2 1/2" long X 1 3/16" wide X 3/4 tall, and could have been used both as a pocket snuff box or a table top snuff box. Weight is 2.4 ounces or 68 grams. This is a interesting piece of Tobacciana in good used condition for it's age. This would be perfect for any Folk Art, 19th century, snuff, snuff box, tobacco collection or display, or us it as a paper weight, decorator, or desk / table top conversation piece. BANK DRAFTS DRAWN ON A U. BANK CONSIDERED WITH PRIOR APPROVAL. Due to a myriad of International and U. DO NOT DUPLICATE OR COPY! The item "ANTIQUE GOLD GILDED SILVER PLATED BRASS POCKET SNUFF BOX ORIGINAL SNUFF SPOON" is in sale since Friday, July 5, 2019. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Tobacciana\Snuff Boxes". The seller is "1knifeguy1" and is located in Fairfield, California.This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Bermuda, Bolivia, Egypt, Iceland, Cayman islands, Pakistan, Paraguay, Uruguay, Russian federation, Dominican republic, El salvador.