Snuffbox
Category
Silver
Date
circa 1730
Materials
Silver
Measurements
2.9 x 7.9 x 5.4 cm
Collection
Ickworth, Suffolk
NT 852796
Summary
Double snuff box and grater, subsequently nutmeg grater, silver, c.1730. The sides of the oval box are formed from seamed sheet. The top has a protruding five-part pin hinge and a slightly domed, raised cover with an applied moulded lip. The cover opens to reveal a silver (?) grater, domed to conform. Beneath the grater the box is divided by a horizontal strip of silver into two even compartments, these being accessed from the underside through lids opening centrally from a shared flush hinge engraved with a band of stylised flower-heads. The lid and side of one compartment have been cut through at a later date to allow the contents to be dispensed, probably when the box was turned over from use for snuff to nutmeg. Heraldry: The cover has been re-engraved c.1751 with the quartered shield, supporters and motto of the 2nd Earl of Bristol beneath an earl’s coronet, all in an ermine mantling. The engraving is very worn.
Full description
When made this box was probably for snuff with the compartmentation allowing two types to be grated.[1] It was intended for both grating and partaking, being turned over to allow access to the two compartments from which pinches could be taken. By 1811 (see appendix 5) the box, which was probably initially acquired by Lord Hervey, was described as being for nutmeg. James Rothwell, Decorative Arts Curator January 2021 [Adapted from James Rothwell, Silver for Entertaining: The Ickworth Collection, London 2017, cat. 17, p. 91] Note: [1] A very similar snuff box, undated and without its grater, is described in Hughes 1957, p. 183. Several examples of double snuff boxes are in the Lion Collection, though none with a grater as well. See Culme 2015, pp. 120, 123, 150, 166 and 193.
Provenance
Probably John, Lord Hervey; by descent to the 4th Marquess of Bristol; accepted by the Treasury in lieu of death duties in 1956 and transferred to the National Trust.
Credit line
Ickworth, the Bristol Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
No hallmarks. Inside of base lid: Scratchweight: (on the inside of one of the base lids) ‘2 17’