Sterling Silver Box for...something...uhh...

Your guess is as good as mine! One guy said it was for hairpins/hatpins...



It's from 1901, and it's about 4.5in across. The hinged lid has a repousse fairy playing a pair of pipes.

Would this have held something specific? Or not? I'm just not sure. The interior is unlined and is just raw silver. It might've been fabric-lined at one point. I dunno.

 

I've done a bit more researching. Apparently it might be a tabletop snuffbox. The piercing on the lid (and there are a few holes) are for letting the scent of the tobacco fill the room. That's according to one website I saw.

 

That sounds like a rather fanciful theory. It seems a bit feminine for a snuffbox, and snuffboxes are usually airtight. I think it comes under the general title of dressing table or dressing box item. Since the base is silver rather than much heavier glass more likely from a travelling dressing box.

Are you seure the holes are designed in and not rub-through from polishing?

 

I don't know! That's why I'm asking. My original thought was that it was rub-through (it IS 115 years old, after all), but then at the same time, I have seen pictures of pierced-lid snuffboxes which were described as being tabletop ones (to sit on a desk or a coffee/dining table, etc.

So do you think it's a dressing-table box or...what is it? I honestly have no idea!

 

I have said what I think. Try a site for snuff takers and see if they recommend that snuff be kept in an airtight container to prevent clumping from atmospheric moisture.
I am guessing the lid is not hinged. I would expect any snuffbox to have a hinged lid.

The people with the pierced lid boxes may have been guessing in the same way you are.

 

It's a hinged lid. I must've forgotten to mention it.

 

Whatever it is - I just sold it! Someone obviously liked it enough.

 

Shangas, I'm just curious but, if you don't mind, did you give a description to the (ultimate) buyer with all of the options as to what it is/might be or did you go with "snuff box" only when selling it?

Did the buyer mention (even after the sale) what he/she thought it was?

Inquiring minds and all that, you know.

 

He looked at the photos and was happy to buy it. I told him it was either a dressing-table box or cigarette box, or a snuffbox. Although I honestly don't know WHAT it is. I've seen enough snuffboxes in my time and what AF says is pretty much right - the majority of them are pretty tightly-sealed.

I just have no idea! But he was happy to pay for it, and I made myself an OK profit, so I was happy to sell it. Once he's wired the money through, I'll post it in a couple of days.

 

Perhaps when he pays for it he'll "share" with you what he "thinks/knows" it is.

 

I dunno!! It's not a very big box. It's about 4.5in across, about 1.5in front to back, about an inch and a quarter high. Whatever it held, back in 1901, it wasn't holding much of it!

 

I had a silver compact from Germany that had almost the same scene on top .

 

Too girly for snuff. I've seen these as part of dressing table sets to hold those long hair pins shaped like croquet hoops.

 

Ownedbybear, thank you for reminding me of those hairpins.

My grandmother had beautiful snow-white hair when she was old and would make a braid of her long hair. The braid came down her back to her waist (but she was a very small/short lady). Then she would wrap the braid around in a bun at the nape of her neck and secure the bun with that type of "large" hairpins.

Sometimes she would let me brush her long hair before she braided it and put it up in a bun. Oh sweet memories.