Very Fine & Very Large 19th-c Carved and Inlaid Treen Novelty Shoe Snuff/tobacco Box

A Very Fine & Large 19th-C Carved and Inlaid Treen Novelty Shoe Snuff/Tobacco Box.

This is one of two amazing tree snuff boxes, superbly carved as shoes and inlaid with bone and silver, that I am lucky enough to have acquired. Without doubt the best two I have ever owned.

The first on offer is large, made from a hard, dark wood, possibly lignum, ebony, or similar, with bone decoration to the secret opening lid that allows access to the prized snuff/tobacco. Two sections slide in a certain way to allow the box to be opened.Incredible quality, substantial in the hand, and offered in fabulous condition.

The last photo shows the two examples I have; look out for the other, walnut, which I believe is equally fabulous.

One of the most popular types of wooden snuff boxes was the treen snuff box, which was made from a single piece of wood, usually turned on a lathe, and then carved or decorated with a variety of designs.

As wood could be softened and moulded by heat, as well as easily carved, it was the most used material for novelty boxes in various shapes like books, shoes, pistols, and figures. As such, softer fruitwoods were often used to make these boxes.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the most well-known wooden boxes in Britain were made in Mauchline, Scotland, of plane, elm, or pine. Slightly later in the 19th century, boxes made using stickwork or inlaid turnery, otherwise known as Tunbridge Ware, became very popular, with beech and sycamore being used.

Other commonly used woods were oak, mahogany, walnut, and rosewood, as well as lignum vitae.

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