id:			168179
accession number:	2009.75
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2009.75
updated:		2023-05-03 11:03:23.181000

Snuff Box with Clock, c. 1750. England, London. Gold-mounted agate, enamel dial, glass; overall: 5.1 x 5.1 cm (2 x 2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Howard F. Stirn 2009.75

title:				Snuff Box with Clock
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1750
creation date earliest:		1745
creation date latest:		1755
current location:		203B British Painting and Decorative Arts
creditline:			Gift of Howard F. Stirn
copyright:			

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culture:	England, London
technique:	gold-mounted agate, enamel dial, glass
department:	Decorative Art and Design
collection:	Decorative Arts
type:		Miscellaneous
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 5.1 x 5.1 cm (2 x 2 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	Dial signed frs: "de-la Balle"
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	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).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Collection of the Royal Family of Saxony
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Howard F. Stirn [1923-2016], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: -2009
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2009-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
During the 1700s, snuff boxes, jewelry, and watch cases were often made in the same workshops, creating multifunctional items such as this time-keeping snuff box.

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

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2009.75/2009.75_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2009.75/2009.75_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2009.75/2009.75_full.tif