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.

Home > Boxes > Trinket Boxes > Page 4

Antique Trinket Boxes

418 items · page 4 of 27

← Page 4 of 27 →

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

19th century

Save

19th Cent Rosewood Jewelery Box

From Park Lodge Antiques

£650

FOR SALE

boxes

Rare Interwar English Folk Art Shellwork Box

1920 - 1940

Save

Rare Interwar English Folk Art Shellwork Box

From Robert Belcher Antiques

£975

FOR SALE

boxes

Antique Georgian Sterling Silver Vinaigrette 1824

19th century

Save

Antique Georgian Sterling Silver Vinaigrette 1824

From Robert Bush Antiques

£295

FOR SALE

boxes

Rare Georgian Sterling Silver Agate Vinaigrette Box 1801 Antique

18th century

Save

Rare Georgian Sterling Silver Agate Vinaigrette Box 1801 Antique

From The Silver Squirrel

£595

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

Save

Victorian Mahogany Jewellery Watch Box

From Past to Present

£175

FOR SALE

boxes

1914 Russian Karelian Birch Officer’s Box with Silver Enamel Regimental Badge

1900 - 1920

Save

1914 Russian Karelian Birch Officer’s Box with Silver Enamel Regimental Badge

From Gillers Antiques Ltd

£6,000

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

Save

Large Regency Mahogany Tea Caddy

From William Rand Antiques

£450

FOR SALE

boxes

Large 198g Solid Silver Picture Castle Top Table Box C1900 Antique

1900 - 1920

Save

Large 198g Solid Silver Picture Castle Top Table Box C1900 Antique

From The Silver Squirrel

£425

FOR SALE

boxes

Antique Early 20thc Metalware Brass Snuff Box Engraved with the Name Ted. Feltham - 1911 - Carter. Frome

1900 - 1920

Save

Antique Early 20thc Metalware Brass Snuff Box Engraved with the Name Ted. Feltham - 1911 - Carter. Frome

From Mark Seabrook Antiques

£120

FOR SALE

boxes

Large William IV Silver Gilt Snuff Box Thomas Shaw Birmingham 1836 (82.7g)

19th century

Save

Large William IV Silver Gilt Snuff Box Thomas Shaw Birmingham 1836 (82.7g)

From Queens Antiques and Collectables

£295

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.

Georgian Brass Navette Shaped Table Snuff Box

18th century

Save

Georgian Brass Navette Shaped Table Snuff Box

From William Rand Antiques

£150

FOR SALE

boxes

A Relic from the Fire of the Houses of Parliament of 1834 in the Form of an Oak Snuff Box

19th century

Save

A Relic from the Fire of the Houses of Parliament of 1834 in the Form of an Oak Snuff Box

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£575

FOR SALE

boxes

Rene Lalique Tete De Femme Coty Box C1912

1900 - 1920

Save

Rene Lalique Tete De Femme Coty Box C1912

From Bradley Gent

£1,100

FOR SALE

boxes

Art Nouveau Gilt Bronze and Glass Jewellery Box

19th century

Save

Art Nouveau Gilt Bronze and Glass Jewellery Box

From Judy Fox Antiques

£800

FOR SALE

boxes

Victorian Bird's Eye Maple Jewellery Box with Tulipwood Inlay, 1860

19th century

Save

Victorian Bird's Eye Maple Jewellery Box with Tulipwood Inlay, 1860

From Spinka & Co

£330

FOR SALE

boxes

19th century

Save

Small French Boulle Trinket Box C.1890

From Puckerings

£395

FOR SALE

boxes

← 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 27 →

Antique Trinket Boxes

19th Cent Rosewood Jewelery Box

Rare Interwar English Folk Art Shellwork Box

Antique Georgian Sterling Silver Vinaigrette 1824

Rare Georgian Sterling Silver Agate Vinaigrette Box 1801 Antique

Victorian Mahogany Jewellery Watch Box

1914 Russian Karelian Birch Officer’s Box with Silver Enamel Regimental Badge

Large Regency Mahogany Tea Caddy

Large 198g Solid Silver Picture Castle Top Table Box C1900 Antique

Antique Early 20thc Metalware Brass Snuff Box Engraved with the Name Ted. Feltham - 1911 - Carter. Frome

Large William IV Silver Gilt Snuff Box Thomas Shaw Birmingham 1836 (82.7g)

Georgian Brass Navette Shaped Table Snuff Box

A Relic from the Fire of the Houses of Parliament of 1834 in the Form of an Oak Snuff Box

Rene Lalique Tete De Femme Coty Box C1912

Art Nouveau Gilt Bronze and Glass Jewellery Box

Victorian Bird's Eye Maple Jewellery Box with Tulipwood Inlay, 1860

Small French Boulle Trinket Box C.1890

Add keywords to the filter

Price

Era

Period

Style

Material

Origin

Stock Location

Recently Added

Online Payments

Categories