Are most of these actually snuff boxes?

Yes. Snuff appears in 91 of 201 titles on Sellingantiques, so the pocket and table snuff box is the single most common thing under the heading. Tobacco jars come next at 26 titles, then brass boxes at 25. Cigar humidors and smokers' cabinets make up a smaller run.

What makes a Dutch tobacco box different?

The recognisable type is an eighteenth-century engraved brass box, sometimes copper, and 22 titles name Dutch work. Subjects can be pictorial. One copper box of the late seventeenth century depicts Calvin and Luther. Alongside the Dutch run sits a brass and copper tin commemorating the Battle of Minden of 1759.

How old are these boxes usually?

Dealers file them broadly. Sixty-three listings say only 19th century, 28 say 18th century, and Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian labels add style rather than years. Where a clean year is given, and that is 47 listings out of 201, the run is 1800 to 1930, clustering in the 1890s, 1850s and 1900s. A few pieces reach further back, including a set of three seventeenth-century tobacco boxes.

Which are the highest-priced examples?

Gold snuff boxes. The top of the range is 18ct and 14ct work, with one Paris box recorded at 98 grams and two silver-gilt boxes weighed at 82.7g and 83g. Lead, pewter, tin and pottery pieces sit at the other end.

Do figural and novelty boxes turn up often?

They recur, though the oddest are one-offs: a japanned papier mâché horse's hoof, a copper and brass bellows, a fruitwood box carved as a wood plane, a hardwood football, and a hand holding a pinch of snuff. Black Forest carving is a steadier presence, with bears, owls, monkeys and dogs, joined by pottery and terracotta bulldog and dog-head jars. Carved figural pieces reach the upper part of the range.

Where do these boxes come from?

Dutch and English work makes up the steady run, with Continental brass and copper boxes forming a clear group of their own. Other origins are occasional: single Japanese, Scandinavian, Russian, Swiss, Middle Eastern, Anglo-Indian and African-American examples appear. Around 24 tobacco boxes come to market on Sellingantiques in a year, listed by 74 different dealers over time, so almost every dealer who handles them handles them singly.

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Antique Tobacco Boxes

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Small lidded containers made to hold tobacco in its various forms: powdered snuff for the pocket or table, cut leaf kept moist in a jar, and cigars shut away in a cabinet.

Antique Victorian Sterling Silver Snuff / Pill Box - 1896 - Welsh Motto

19th century

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Antique Victorian Sterling Silver Snuff / Pill Box - 1896 - Welsh Motto

From Robert Bush Antiques

£375

FOR SALE

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An Antique Table Snuff Box - Women Taking Snuff

19th century

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An Antique Table Snuff Box - Women Taking Snuff

From Opus Antiques

£145

FOR SALE

boxes

Antique Victorian Horn Snuff Box with Faceted Citrine Decoration – Circa 1880

19th century

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Antique Victorian Horn Snuff Box with Faceted Citrine Decoration – Circa 1880

From Kingsdown Antiques

£145

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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Black Forest Bear T0bacco Holder

From Treehouse Antiques

£395

FOR SALE

boxes

A Pair of Treen Russian Tobacco Containers with Carved and Painted Decoration Circa 1890

19th century

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A Pair of Treen Russian Tobacco Containers with Carved and Painted Decoration Circa 1890

From Robert Belcher Antiques

£895

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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Early 19th Century French Papier Mache Snuff Box Hunting La Chasse

From Queens Antiques and Collectables

£125

FOR SALE

boxes

Art Deco Novelty Scottie Dog Cigarette Box, C1930

1920 - 1940

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Art Deco Novelty Scottie Dog Cigarette Box, C1930

From Art Deco World

£285

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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C19th Black Forest Carved Wood Humidor

From I M Chaney Antique Furniture

£295

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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19th Century Ebony Engine Turned Snuff Box

From Robert Belcher Antiques

£395

FOR SALE

boxes

Antique Cambridge Doctor's Smoking Cabinet, English, Smoker's Case, Edwardian

1900 - 1920

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Antique Cambridge Doctor's Smoking Cabinet, English, Smoker's Case, Edwardian

From London Fine Antiques

£1,495

FOR SALE

boxes

The top sale of the last year on Sellingantiques was an 18th-century French gold-mounted circular snuff box, painted with a portrait of a lady. It sold in October 2025.

19th century

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Oval Horn Snuff Box

From Millers Antiques

£125

FOR SALE

boxes

18th century

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18th Century Walnut Oval Table Snuff Box

From Walton House Antiques

£365

FOR SALE

boxes

An Antique Pen Work Snuff Box - By G Cobb

19th century

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An Antique Pen Work Snuff Box - By G Cobb

From Opus Antiques

£390

FOR SALE

boxes

A Large Black Forest Carved Dog Tobacco Box, Circa 1860

19th century

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A Large Black Forest Carved Dog Tobacco Box, Circa 1860

From Robert Belcher Antiques

£2,450

FOR SALE

boxes

Antique English Oak & Silver Box. Wooden Humidor Cigar Box. 1920.

1900 - 1920

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Antique English Oak & Silver Box. Wooden Humidor Cigar Box. 1920.

From Krave Antiques

£395

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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Nineteenth Century Walnut Cigar Humidor

From Gertrude Antiques

£695

FOR SALE

boxes

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Antique Tobacco Boxes

Antique Victorian Sterling Silver Snuff / Pill Box - 1896 - Welsh Motto

An Antique Table Snuff Box - Women Taking Snuff

Antique Victorian Horn Snuff Box with Faceted Citrine Decoration – Circa 1880

Black Forest Bear T0bacco Holder

A Pair of Treen Russian Tobacco Containers with Carved and Painted Decoration Circa 1890

Early 19th Century French Papier Mache Snuff Box Hunting La Chasse

Art Deco Novelty Scottie Dog Cigarette Box, C1930

C19th Black Forest Carved Wood Humidor

19th Century Ebony Engine Turned Snuff Box

Antique Cambridge Doctor's Smoking Cabinet, English, Smoker's Case, Edwardian

Oval Horn Snuff Box

18th Century Walnut Oval Table Snuff Box

An Antique Pen Work Snuff Box - By G Cobb

A Large Black Forest Carved Dog Tobacco Box, Circa 1860

Antique English Oak & Silver Box. Wooden Humidor Cigar Box. 1920.

Nineteenth Century Walnut Cigar Humidor

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