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.

19th century

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Victorian Railway Coal Wagon Humidor

From Colin Brand Antiques

£745

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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A Very Smart Pocket Snuff Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£245

FOR SALE

boxes

French Cossack Pressed Maple Snuff Box C1820

19th century

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French Cossack Pressed Maple Snuff Box C1820

From Shaun King Antiques

£235

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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19th Century Decorated Papier-mâché Table Snuff Box

From Heydays Antiques

£125

FOR SALE

boxes

1900 - 1920

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Oak Smokers Cabinet

From D and A Binder Ltd

£192

FOR SALE

boxes

Oak Smokers Cabinet in the Form of a Gwr Coal Wagon

19th century

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Oak Smokers Cabinet in the Form of a Gwr Coal Wagon

From David Griffith Antiques

£985

FOR SALE

boxes

18th century

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18th Century South Staffordshire Snuff Box

From Treaders Collectables

£1,000

FOR SALE

boxes

18th century

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Antique 18th Century French Vari-coloured 18ct Gold Oval Snuff Box Circa 1780

From Bushells Antiques

£7,250

FOR SALE

boxes

A Delightful Carved Horn Snuff Box Interesting Shape

19th century

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A Delightful Carved Horn Snuff Box Interesting Shape

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£375

FOR SALE

boxes

German Concealed Erotic Snuff Box in the Manner of Stobwasser C.1820

18th century

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German Concealed Erotic Snuff Box in the Manner of Stobwasser C.1820

From Puckerings

£1,500

FOR SALE

boxes

The oldest to pass through Sellingantiques include a set of three seventeenth-century tobacco boxes and a late seventeenth-century Dutch copper box showing Calvin and Luther.

19th century

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Dated 19th Century Dutch Tobacco Box

From Carse Antiques

£125

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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A Delightful Misers Snuff Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£245

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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A Turned Circular Mahogany Box

From Park Lodge Antiques

£695

FOR SALE

boxes

18th century

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Table Snuff Box

From Devonshire Antiques

£1,250

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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A Charming 19th Century Brass Snuff Box with an Inscription. Take a Pinch and Welcome

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£225

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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An Unusual and Interesting 19th Century Scottish Staghorn Snuff Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£285

FOR SALE

boxes

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Antique Tobacco Boxes

Victorian Railway Coal Wagon Humidor

A Very Smart Pocket Snuff Box

French Cossack Pressed Maple Snuff Box C1820

19th Century Decorated Papier-mâché Table Snuff Box

Oak Smokers Cabinet

Oak Smokers Cabinet in the Form of a Gwr Coal Wagon

18th Century South Staffordshire Snuff Box

Antique 18th Century French Vari-coloured 18ct Gold Oval Snuff Box Circa 1780

A Delightful Carved Horn Snuff Box Interesting Shape

German Concealed Erotic Snuff Box in the Manner of Stobwasser C.1820

Dated 19th Century Dutch Tobacco Box

A Delightful Misers Snuff Box

A Turned Circular Mahogany Box

Table Snuff Box

A Charming 19th Century Brass Snuff Box with an Inscription. Take a Pinch and Welcome

An Unusual and Interesting 19th Century Scottish Staghorn Snuff Box

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