What were trinket boxes originally used for?

Many were made for a specific consumable or accessory: snuff, face patches, tea, stamps, gloves, or sewing kit. Each acquired its own purpose-made container through the 18th and 19th centuries. "Trinket box" is the later trade label. Dealers use it for jewellery and keepsake boxes, and often for caddies, glove boxes and work boxes that started life doing something else.

Which woods appear most often?

Walnut and rosewood lead the timber words in titles, followed by burr walnut, mahogany, oak and ebony. Papier mâché bodies, japanned and hand painted, run through the snuff and pocket boxes. Olivewood, fruitwood, laburnum and coquilla nut show up in the treen and turned end of the archive.

How old are most of these boxes?

The dated field runs from 1750 to 1950, with 205 listings carrying a clean year. Era tags carry the rest: 19th Century, Victorian, Georgian, Regency, Edwardian, plus decade tags for the 1880s, 1890s, 1900s and 1920s. A handful sit earlier, tagged 17th Century or simply "Before 1700". A Welsh oak table box in the archive is put at around 1640.

Are trinket boxes on Sellingantiques mostly English?

No. French appears in more titles than English, and Japanese and Indian pieces both have a steady presence. The geography shows in the decoration too: sadeli mosaic from Anglo-Indian workshops, damascened iron and cloisonné from Japan, ormolu-mounted glass and porcelain from France.

Do many carry silver hallmarks?

Silver is a minority of the category, and a smaller share again of live stock. Assay towns are barely recorded in titles at all. Chester, London and Birmingham are the only offices named across the whole sample, so a stated assay date is the exception rather than the pattern.

What unusual forms turn up in this category?

Novelty shapes surface regularly. A horse's hoof snuff box, boxes made as stacking books, a football, a coach and horses, a Georgian house facade, and treen boxes carved as ladies' feet in open-toed shoes. Other one-offs include prisoner-of-war straw work, tramp art, shellwork, and a snuff box made from oak salvaged after the 1834 Houses of Parliament fire. Star tortoise shells mounted as jewellery boxes and porcupine quill boxes from Ceylon appear more than once.

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Antique Trinket Boxes

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A trinket box is a small lidded container, usually under about 30cm, made to hold jewellery, snuff, patches, stamps, gloves or keepsakes.

Antique French Silvered Copper Jewellery Casket Box B Wicker 19th C

19th century

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Antique French Silvered Copper Jewellery Casket Box B Wicker 19th C

From Regent Antiques

£1,250

FOR SALE

boxes

Austrian Secessionist Lidded Canister by Josef Margold C.1915

1900 - 1920

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Austrian Secessionist Lidded Canister by Josef Margold C.1915

From The Old Cinema

£450

FOR SALE

boxes

1900 - 1920

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Rectangular Leather Jewellery Box 1920

From Michael Johnson Antiques

£160

FOR SALE

boxes

17th century

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A Fine 17th Century and Later Floral Marquetry Box

From H & H Gallery

£3,850

FOR SALE

boxes

1900 - 1920

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French Glass and Ormolu Trinket Box

From Jane Short Antiques

£175

FOR SALE

boxes

Early 20th Century Chiselled Brass and Gilt Pineapple Box Caddy

1900 - 1920

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Early 20th Century Chiselled Brass and Gilt Pineapple Box Caddy

From Debenham Antiques Ltd

£750

FOR SALE

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Scottish Victorian Antique Gold and Agate Snuff Box, Scotland C. 1880

19th century

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Scottish Victorian Antique Gold and Agate Snuff Box, Scotland C. 1880

From Highland Antiques Ltd

£2,995

FOR SALE

boxes

Immaculate Condition Crocodile Jewellery Box Circa 1890

19th century

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Immaculate Condition Crocodile Jewellery Box Circa 1890

From Frank Craig Antiques

£190

FOR SALE

boxes

George III South Staffordshire Enamel Patch Box

19th century

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George III South Staffordshire Enamel Patch Box

From Terrier Antiques at Hebden Bridge

£190

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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An Unusual and Charming Set of 4 Kashmiri Graduated Round and Painted Indian Boxes

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£385

FOR SALE

boxes

Tunbridge ware runs through about twenty-five titles on Sellingantiques, as trinket boxes, stamp boxes, snuff boxes, tea caddies, work boxes and a white ware variant.

19th century

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Antique French Paper Box

From Nikki Page Antiques

£450

FOR SALE

boxes

Antique Keepsake Box, English, Coromandel, Inlaid Stationery Case, Regency, 1830

19th century

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Antique Keepsake Box, English, Coromandel, Inlaid Stationery Case, Regency, 1830

From London Fine Antiques

£895

FOR SALE

boxes

Regency Rosewood Document or Collector's Box in Beautiful Original Condition.

19th century

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Regency Rosewood Document or Collector's Box in Beautiful Original Condition.

From Robert Bush Antiques

£495

FOR SALE

boxes

Dome Shaped Hand Painted Papier Mache Snuff Box

19th century

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Dome Shaped Hand Painted Papier Mache Snuff Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£245

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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Regency Penwork Brighton Chain Pier Box

From Shaun King Antiques

£345

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

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Regency Ebony Inlaid Satinwood Box

From Carse Antiques

£195

FOR SALE

boxes

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Antique Trinket Boxes

Antique French Silvered Copper Jewellery Casket Box B Wicker 19th C

Austrian Secessionist Lidded Canister by Josef Margold C.1915

Rectangular Leather Jewellery Box 1920

A Fine 17th Century and Later Floral Marquetry Box

French Glass and Ormolu Trinket Box

Early 20th Century Chiselled Brass and Gilt Pineapple Box Caddy

Scottish Victorian Antique Gold and Agate Snuff Box, Scotland C. 1880

Immaculate Condition Crocodile Jewellery Box Circa 1890

George III South Staffordshire Enamel Patch Box

An Unusual and Charming Set of 4 Kashmiri Graduated Round and Painted Indian Boxes

Antique French Paper Box

Antique Keepsake Box, English, Coromandel, Inlaid Stationery Case, Regency, 1830

Regency Rosewood Document or Collector's Box in Beautiful Original Condition.

Dome Shaped Hand Painted Papier Mache Snuff Box

Regency Penwork Brighton Chain Pier Box

Regency Ebony Inlaid Satinwood Box

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