Description

• Form: Small oval brass box, hinged lid, pocket-sized.

• Material: Brass (machine-pressed and engraved).

• Decoration:

  • One side shows a tavern/barrel scene with “CORN WILLSON 1772” engraved.

  • The other side depicts three figures with banners and the inscription:
    “These three unite in the Same Cause / This Snuffs that smoaks the other Chaws.”
    (A playful political/satirical slogan of the 18th century).

• Interior: The underside is stamped “Mullinshead” and “Made in England” — suggesting it’s a reproduction rather than an original 1770s piece.

History & Context

• The original boxes of this type are called “tobacco boxes” or “snuff boxes”.

• The Corn Willson 1772 engraving refers to a well-documented 18th-century political snuff/tobacco box, often produced as commemoratives in England. Originals were crafted in brass or copper and featured patriotic or satirical messages.

• These boxes were common pocket accessories for men of the 18th century, used to carry snuff (powdered tobacco).

• This box is a 20th-century reproduction, likely made In the 1940s-50s, when there was a revival of interest in Georgian and colonial tobacco-related antiques. These were sold as curios, collector’s items, or gifts.