FEW younger readers will be familiar with, let alone have used, snuff – a powder made of ground dried tobacco leaves – which was widely used in polite European society from the 18th until the mid-20th century.
Users traditionally took a pinch of snuff with their fingers, placed it on the back of the other hand and inhaled. The consequent heavy sneezing was apparently a source of considerable relief for a blocked head.
Antique snuff boxes are now very collectable and a 19th century French gold and enamelled version sold for £10,800 at Bonhams in London this week.
A more affordable example is for sale at Herman and Wilkinson’s country house contents auction on the premises at St Mary’s, Rathvilly, Co Carlow next Tuesday, June 28th.
The Victorian silver-plated table snuff box in the form of a winged cupid pushing a wheelbarrow has an estimate of only €100-€150.
It’s a rare example of a “snuff carriage”, essentially a mobile dispenser on wheels. similar to antique decanter carriages – which could be circulated to guests at a dinner table.
The auction, which starts at 10.30am, features some 360 lots from the estate of the late Dr Elizabeth Harper Kirk and includes furniture, porcelain, silver, crystal, pictures and collectibles.
