Snuff box

Snuff-box in the shape of a high-heeled boot, with heel and toe stained dark, and a man's face carved in the top. The toe of the boot forms the beard, with decoration of metal studs, and brass twisted stringing inlaid along the seams of the boot. Two glass eyes. The top of the boot is hollowed out to form a rough unlined container. The lid forms the collar of the boot. Two glass eyes. The lid forms the collar of the boot, with a smiling woman's face crudely carved in the top surface. The bottom of the heel shows signs of wear.

Given by Messrs Harrods Ltd.

This snuff box was part of a very large collection of 752 items of dress and accessories which was given to the Museum by Harrods, the department store, in 1913. The collection had been formed by the artist Talbot Hughes (of Ginge House, Wantage), who wrote a book on the history of dress, illustrated with photographs of models wearing items from his collection. A large firm in America had offered to buy the collection and present it to the Metropolitan Museum, New York, but Hughes did not want it to go abroad. At the suggestion of Cecil Harcourt Smith of the V&A, Harrods bought it for £2,500 and gave it to the Museum for the 'public good'. Harrods displayed the collection for three weeks in December 1913. and published a short catalogue describing the snuff boxes: 'Many of pique work of metal pins in minute geometric patterns...They principally date from the latter part of the 18th and the early years of the 19th century'.

There is no official gift form on the acquisition file, but the Textiles Department Registered Descriptions (T.391-1143-1913) records that the agreed formula for the labels was 'Messrs. Harrod's Gift, 1913'. There is list of about 2000 items included in the gift, including many snuff boxes, but it is not clear whether all the snuff boxes came to the Museum. Other snuff boxes on the list included those made of porcelain, slate, ivory, metal, and lacquer. It appears that the Museum selected only part of the collection.

The style of boot, with its square toe, appears to date from the 1860s (Lucy Pratt, Textiles Dept. 1999).

Snuff is a form of ground tobacco, and originally came from America in the 15th century. Snuff-taking became popluar as an alternative to smoking tobacco. By the 18th century, hundreds of varieties of snuff were available, some perfumed with scented oils. Snuff was either sniffed from the back of the hand, pinched in the fingers and sniffed, or sniffed from a spoon. Snuff-taking was less popular in the early 19th century but enjoyed a revival later in the century.

There were many varieties of snuff-boxes in many materials, but among wooden boxes, shoe-shapes were popular both in the 18th and 19th centuries. Decorative boxes were designed for table use at home,

Shoes have long been associated with love and marriage, such as the silver-coloured shoes sometime use to decorate wedding cakes, and shoes tied to wedding cars. Shoe-shaped snuff boxes might have been made as gifts. (Pinto, 1969)

Object Type
Small containers for keeping snuff were often decorative or made into novelties, such as this shoe. The top of the boot is hollowed out to form a container. The collar of the boot forms the lid. This box has the added feature of two carved faces. Decorative snuff boxes would be put on the table and passed around a social group.

Ownership & Use
Tobacco smoking became fashionable during the late 16th century. Tobacco was also ground into a powder to form snuff, which was sniffed through the nose rather than smoked in the form of a cigar or through a pipe. By the 18th century hundreds of varieties of snuff were available, some scented with oils. There was a revival in the popularity of snuff-taking after about 1850.

This snuff box was owned by the artist Talbot Hughes (1869-1942), who had a large collection of historic dress and accessories. The London department store Harrod's bought the collection and gave it to the Museum in 1913 after displaying it in the store for three weeks.

Design & Designing
Shoe-shaped snuff boxes were made throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, probably as gifts. This boot, with its squared toe, is in the fashion of the 1860s. Shoes were traditionally associated with good luck wishes for travellers and wedding couples setting off on the 'journey' of marriage. Silver-coloured shoes are still sometimes used at weddings as good luck tokens.

T.1539&A-1913