Antique Snuff Boxes: Small and Valuable Treasures Worth Sniffing Around For

Swiss Enamel & Gold Snuff Box, circa 1740. Photograph property of M.S. Rau Antiques

Papier Mache Snuff Box, circa 1814. Photograph property AAAWT,Inc.

I often tell Members of the 31 Club that money in the antique and collectible world can be made with items smaller than a bread box. Besides not taking up too much space in your home until you get them sold, you won’t be faced with transporting these small treasures back and forth, which eats away at your time and erodes your profit. Snuff Boxes and Snuff Bottles certainly qualify as items smaller than a bread box, and they can be quite valuable. Today, I'll focus mainly on snuff boxes.

Snuff, used for many centuries, is a tobacco that is ground into a very fine powder. It’s sniffed through the nose, tucked behind the lip, or tucked inside the cheek. It came in either a dry form or a moist form.

In Europe, in centuries gone by, the use of snuff was a very popular social ritual, mainly with the elite. Many a high society lady or gent would never leave home without their stylish snuff box and would often have several to choose from. They even had snuff boxes for every season. In China, snuff bottles were very popular, and the bottle stopper had a little pad on the inside of it. The process for use was the same.

In 19th Century America, some women might have smoked cigars in public for its shock value, however, there were far more ladies discreetly using snuff, which was perfectly acceptable. This was Women’s Lib 19th Century style, and it caught on.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and we find that anything to do with snuff has become highly collectible. If you find one for a collector, they'll pay you handsomely, especially for the right one.

Snuff boxes can be made from almost any material. They were often made of antler, silver, wood, brass, gold, pewter and many others. They also can be a combination of several materials, artistically decorated. Most boxes were decorated with gold or silver, often with the owner’s initials engraved on them. Many were highly decorated, and of course, these are quite valuable. Let’s look at a few values in Kovel’s Price Guide to see if your eyebrows move a little north:

A 3” Gold Enamled Box of a Harbor Scene, c. 1830 valued at $17,250. If that’s too rich for your blood, how about a Metal, Gilt, Musical, engine-turned panels sized at four inches for $14,950. These must have been owned by a very special lady or gent.

$32,500. That's the price of the snuff box shown in Today's Photo, top photo. It's at M.S. Rau Antiques and this Swiss Enamel and Gold Snuff Box, circa 1740, looks like it contains a double ivory portrait,adding to its value. This is a real beauty. When you take a look at all their high end snuff boxes, you'll have a better idea of the high quality, high end boxes out there.

Today's Photo, bottom, is an Papier Mache Snuff Box With a Print of American Victory on Lake Champlain, circa 1814. This piece will also qualify as Historical Memorabilia as it is a rare example of the War of 1812. It depicts Macdonough's September 11, 1814 victory over the British fleet on Lake Champlainthe. It's valued at $ $1,350 at aaawt.com.

Remember, we look for the higher end, rare items. As we work our way up the 31 Steps, our ever increasing knowledge of true quality and rarity will help us along the way. Please make every effort to attend antique shows in your area to see high quality items up close and face to face. The first goal is to be able to recognize quality when you see it.

Snuff was not reserved for the high society crowd. We regular folks used it, too. I can still remember the way my Grandmother would quickly sniff a little, sneeze, and then hold her dainty handkerchief to her nose. As a child, I often wondered why she would do this. Maybe to clear her nose, I thought.

Today, snuff is a dying industry. To the ladies and gents of days long gone, aside from being the socially chic thing to do then, that special little high from nicotines was what they were probably after. In those days, the use of snuff also made the dentists very happy, too. It caused many a mouth problem and surely increased the bottom line in the dentists' books.

If you're interested in "sniffing out" more information on snuff boxes, you might start by reading Christopher Proudlove's Blog on Snuff Boxes at WriteAntiques.com and Tobacco.org has a very informative timeline of tobacco that's quite interesting.

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Know Your Customer -- The Collector and The Advanced Collector

Pauline Pottery, 10" tall, sold at Craftsman's Auction March 2006 for $2,880.

Often the one thing that makes a collectible so valuable is that there was enough production by the company so that anyone can find pieces to start a collection Usually a budding collector starts with a less valuable item and then works his or her way up to the more expensive pieces.

Let’s take Rookwood for an example. If you're collecting, you might make your first purchase of Rookwood in the commercial wares area of their production. A simple vase might fit the bill. But, as you advance in the collection, the artist signed pieces will become more appealing to you. Yes, they will be far more expensive, but over time you will have become more knowledgeable and realize that this is where the true investment will be. This is true of Roseville, Weller, Van Briggle, Teco and many other pottery companies whose production was expansive, and is a great way for the novice to learn as their collections grow without making too many mistakes.

But why is this important to us? We want to buy and sell, right? Yes, but unless we can get into the mind of the collectors -- our customers -- our buying will be more about ourselves and not about the ones we want to sell our treasures to.

There is an exception to this type collecting. There are some collectors who buy the rare items from companies who had only a limited production. In the industry, we refer to this type of collector “the advanced collector.” Pauline Pottery, produced right here in Chicago and then later in Wisconsin, is an example of an item an advanced collector might look for.

The Pauline Company was in business for only 10 years from 1883 until 1893. This lets you know that the number of pieces they produced would be very limited, and I doubt you will find many people that have a large collection of their pottery. However, this is where the advanced collector steps in. He wants one of the better pieces from the Pauline kilns to show the diversity of his collection. The pitcher that sold on ebay brought over $500, and even though it did nothing for me personally, I can see why a collector would want it in their collection.

The main problem with purchasing this type of merchandise is that there will always be a limited market for the company’s wares unless the item is exceptional. Don't get stuck with common pieces by unknown companies because they will be yours forever. If you do see an exceptional item, but don't recognize the mark, this is a time to get very stingy with your money. This is also an excellent way to find a Treasure while taking very little risk.

In the case of Pauline, the mark is a very indistinct crown with no writing but perhaps the artist’s initials. Their second mark just says “Pauline Pottery.” I suggest you keep your eyes out for very large and decorative pieces by this company, but leave the lesser ones alone. If you find that special piece of Pauline, I think that you should be able to buy it very reasonably. Therefore, your profit should meet our goals of at least doubling our money on our purchases.

Remember to tune into the AuctionWally BlogTalk Radio program on Monday. I am Auctionwally's special guest and you can call in your questions. I hope I hear from you.

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LARGE and SMALL - They Both can be GREAT

In the Antique and Collectible Market, you will find items of many sizes. Surprisingly, the most value will usually come from the large or very small pieces. The medium size items are the most common of all, and therefore, bring less money as a rule.

First, a large vase by Rookwood is usually sold by so much per inch, everything else being the same. An eighteen inch vase by a top artist from Rookwood is going to bring a lot more money than an eight inch one by the same artist. This difference compounds as the item increases in size. The eight inch vase may bring $1,000 while the eighteen inch one might bring $30,000 or more. You should always keep this in mind as you are shopping.

The reason that larger pieces have more value happens to be true, because fewer of them will have been made. If a artist wants to make a very large piece, he knows that it is extremely hard to keep the consistency of the image that he is decorating the same throughout the piece. Also, just handling a larger piece is more labor intensive.

As for the smaller pieces, they acquire their value because it is very difficult to handle items under two inches, so few are made. We call these pieces mini, and often they are models for those pieces that will incorporate their design into larger ones later. A one inch Daum Nancy "Fall Scene" vase might bring as much as $3,500.00 or more. Can you imagine that? I just bought three mini Lotton vases, and the last one I saw sell brought over $500. Don't overlook something because it's small. If others can't see its value, you will find a Treasure.

I remember as a small child, I always wanted to be larger so that basketball and football would be easier for me. Later, when I developed a love of horses, I wanted to be smaller, so I could be a jockey. I didn't know it at this early age, but the principle of large and small had already been placed in my mind.

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