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.

18th century

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A Rare and Interesting Dutch Early 18th Century Heavy Gauge Brass Table Snuff or Tobacco Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£245

FOR SALE

boxes

Finely Carved Coquilla Nut Pocket Snuff Box

19th century

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Finely Carved Coquilla Nut Pocket Snuff Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£245

FOR SALE

boxes

Art Deco Walnut Cigar / Cigarette Box, C1930

1920 - 1940

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Art Deco Walnut Cigar / Cigarette Box, C1930

From Art Deco World

£345

FOR SALE

boxes

A Finely Carved and Chunky Hard Wood Snuff Box in the Form of a Hand Holding a Pinch of Snuff

1900 - 1920

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A Finely Carved and Chunky Hard Wood Snuff Box in the Form of a Hand Holding a Pinch of Snuff

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£475

FOR SALE

boxes

18th century

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Georgian Tortoiseshell & Gold Snuff Box

From William Rand Antiques

£170

FOR SALE

boxes

A Rectangular Double- Sided Inlaid Antique Snuff Box

19th century

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A Rectangular Double- Sided Inlaid Antique Snuff Box

From Opus Antiques

£175

FOR SALE

boxes

Scandinavian Pollard Birch Root Tobacco Box

19th century

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Scandinavian Pollard Birch Root Tobacco Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£350

FOR SALE

boxes

1920 - 1940

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Art Deco Metal Cigarette Box

From Art Deco World

£275

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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19th Century Pewter Snuff Box

From William Rand Antiques

£125

FOR SALE

boxes

A Very Fine Georgian Mahogany Snuff Box in the Shape of a Shoe

18th century

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A Very Fine Georgian Mahogany Snuff Box in the Shape of a Shoe

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£250

FOR SALE

boxes

The most expensive tobacco box ever sold on Sellingantiques was a large fruitwood box carved as an English bulldog, dated about 1880. It sold in November 2019.

18th century

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Rare Scottish Horn & Pewter Snuff Mull

From Carse Antiques

£195

FOR SALE

boxes

A Delightful and Unusual Carved Hardwood Lidded Box Modelled as a Soccer Football

1920 - 1940

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A Delightful and Unusual Carved Hardwood Lidded Box Modelled as a Soccer Football

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£485

FOR SALE

boxes

A Commemorative Antique Snuff Box with Both Shakespeare and Handel

19th century

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A Commemorative Antique Snuff Box with Both Shakespeare and Handel

From Opus Antiques

£270

FOR SALE

boxes

A Large and Well Carved Hard Wood Table Snuff Box with a Rich Deep Patina

1900 - 1920

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A Large and Well Carved Hard Wood Table Snuff Box with a Rich Deep Patina

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£285

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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Georgian Tobacco/snuff Box, C1820

From Curious Antiques

£175

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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19th Century Golden Oak Humidor

From Elmgarden

£690

FOR SALE

boxes

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Antique Tobacco Boxes

A Rare and Interesting Dutch Early 18th Century Heavy Gauge Brass Table Snuff or Tobacco Box

Finely Carved Coquilla Nut Pocket Snuff Box

Art Deco Walnut Cigar / Cigarette Box, C1930

A Finely Carved and Chunky Hard Wood Snuff Box in the Form of a Hand Holding a Pinch of Snuff

Georgian Tortoiseshell & Gold Snuff Box

A Rectangular Double- Sided Inlaid Antique Snuff Box

Scandinavian Pollard Birch Root Tobacco Box

Art Deco Metal Cigarette Box

19th Century Pewter Snuff Box

A Very Fine Georgian Mahogany Snuff Box in the Shape of a Shoe

Rare Scottish Horn & Pewter Snuff Mull

A Delightful and Unusual Carved Hardwood Lidded Box Modelled as a Soccer Football

A Commemorative Antique Snuff Box with Both Shakespeare and Handel

A Large and Well Carved Hard Wood Table Snuff Box with a Rich Deep Patina

Georgian Tobacco/snuff Box, C1820

19th Century Golden Oak Humidor

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