Snuff Box
Unknown Artist
c. 1770
Medium
enamel on copper, gilt metal
Dimensions
2.3 × 7 × 5.5 cm
Classification
Miscellaneous
Department
Decorative Art and Design
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
Accession Number
1916.617
About this artwork
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 enslave...