id:			96923
accession number:	1916.617
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.617
updated:		

Snuff Box, c. 1770. England, South Staffordshire. Enamel on copper, gilt metal; overall: 2.3 x 7 x 5.5 cm (7/8 x 2 3/4 x 2 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.617

title:				Snuff Box
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1770
creation date earliest:		1765
creation date latest:		1775
current location:		203B British Painting and Decorative Arts
creditline:			Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
copyright:			

---

culture:	England, South Staffordshire
technique:	enamel on copper, gilt metal
department:	Decorative Art and Design
collection:	Decorative Arts
type:		Miscellaneous
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

---

CREATORS

---

measurements: Overall: 2.3 x 7 x 5.5 cm (7/8 x 2 3/4 x 2 3/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

---

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints
	opening date:   2015-01-25T00:00:00
	<i>Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 17, 2015).

	title:		British Gallery Reinstallation  (June 2020)
	opening date:   2020-06-30T04:00:00
	<i>British Gallery Reinstallation  (June 2020)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

---

LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

---

PROVENANCE

	Jeptha Homer Wade II [1857-1926] and Ellen Garretson Wade [1859-1917], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: -1916
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1916-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


---

fun fact:
This small, elaborate box held snuff, a form of powdered tobacco that was inhaled in tiny amounts.

digital description:
Luxurious personal objects, like this snuff box, were an essential part of a privileged wardrobe during the 1700s and early 1800s, emphasizing their owner’s refinement and wealth. Their glittering surfaces, however, disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved or indentured people, whether in gold or stone mines, tobacco farms, or shops where these goods were made. Like cotton, sugar, and tea, snuff came from British colonies in America, India, and the Caribbean, where enslaved people were exploited to grow these crops under extremely harsh conditions. Slavery was not abolished in much of the British Empire until 1833. Britain and other European nations continued to pursue colonialism with a sense of superiority that found its way into all aspects of life, including decorative objects glorifying their conquests.

wall description:

---

RELATED WORKS

---

CITATIONS

---

IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.617/1916.617_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.617/1916.617_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1916.617/1916.617_full.tif