19th Century Three Horn Snuff Boxes
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Mother-Of-Pearl - Mother-of-pearl, technical name "nacre", is the inner layer of a sea shell. The iridescent colours and strength of this material were widely used in the nineteenth century as an inlay in jewellery, furniture, (especially papier mache furniture) and musical instruments.
In the early 1900s it was used to make pearl buttons. Mother-of-pearl is a soft material that is easily cut or engraved.
Nowadays it is a by-product of the oyster, freshwater pearl mussel and abalone industries. - Horn - Full horns were used for making drinking vessels and powder horns. A number of larger horns or antlers could be combined together to make furniture and decorative items such as chairs and lamps.
As a material, horn was formerly used in all types of objects such as snuff boxes, lanterns, musical instruments, items for personal grooming, cutlery handles, walking sticks. Some items of horn are finely decorated with silver or mounted in silver.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
Two silver rectangular cigarette cases, 20th century, one Indonesian embossed, chased and ebonised in lotus design and a Cambodian applied filigree case, 12 x 8 cm & 9 x 8 cm, 205 grams total weight
Two World War I brass matchbox covers. One with RAAF insignia; the other inscribed 'Ypres Souvenir 1917' (2)
Early 20th century .950 silver large cigarette case plain rectangular with bold acanthus engraving
A silver plate torah cover, 19th century, 12.5 x 8 cm