Box (Tobacco box)

Description

By the close of the eighteenth century, smoking tobacco was well-established in England. Smoking accessories such as tobacco boxes made popular gifts. This navette-shaped snuff box is fashioned out of rolled sheet copper. Gifted to John Bean by Elizabeth Jacobs upon his departure from England, the lid of this tobacco box has a decorative bright-cut engraved border. At the center of the lid, a boat-shaped (marquise-shaped) piece of silver is inset and engraved with the initials “JB,” along with “1757” and “1796.”  Framing the silver applique is the inscription “May the honest Heart / Never know Distress.” A popular line associated with sentimental fiction of the mid-to-late eighteenth century, this phrase was widely circulated and published. In addition to this popular phrase is a highly personal inscription on the underside of the box: “The Gift of Eliz:\th Jacobs to Jn\o Bean /of Boston in America.” This inscription surrounds an engraving of a three-masted sailing vessel with a Union Jack flag. A nearly identical box in Winterthur’s Collection––2003.0013.033––suggests that this was a standard style offered by the maker. The personalized inscription was likely requested when the box was ordered.