Video: The history of the snuffbox, or How a tiny box turned into a jewel for the transmission of secret messages
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It often happens that in literary works there are concepts and objects that are unknown to the current generation. So, for example, a snuff-box can be seen today only in museums or private collections. But even a couple of centuries ago, not having a snuff-box was considered a sign of bad taste. How this miniature little thing turned from a snuff box into a work of art designed to convey secret messages - we will consider later in the article.
In the 16th century, tobacco began to be actively imported from America. Many people did not like the smoke from his smoking, so they found another use for tobacco - they began to sniff it. Queen Catherine de 'Medici of France suffered from migraines. To alleviate Her Majesty's suffering, Ambassador Jean Nico presented her with a box of snuff, which was already popular in Portugal at that time.
Apparently, this exotic remedy helped the queen, because tobacco sniffing quickly became popular throughout France, and then in Europe. The tobacco was stored in small boxes that fit perfectly in a pocket. Gradually, snuffboxes turned into works of art, a symbol of status. It is known that the Prussian king Frederick the Great inherited 600 snuff boxes, and after his death there were already more than 1,500 such boxes in the palace.
Russia also did not stay away from this hobby. At the court of Empress Catherine Petrovna it was fashionable to treat each other with tobacco. Snuff-boxes were made of gold, silver, aluminum (which was then very highly valued), tortoiseshell. They were inlaid with precious stones, decorated with portrait miniatures on enamel.
Gradually, snuff boxes ceased to be just boxes for storing tobacco. The craftsmen built musical mechanisms into them, thanks to which, when the lid was thrown back, a melody sounded. You can also find snuff-boxes with two compartments, because acquaintances could be treated to cheaper tobacco.
Snuffboxes were used to transmit encrypted love messages. Also, members of secret societies used boxes to recognize each other at a ball or reception. So, in the Masonic Order of the Pug, snuff-boxes with the image of a dog were used. READ MORE …
But, as you know, fashion is changeable. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. the cut of ladies' and men's toilets has changed. Pockets disappeared. This circumstance had an extremely negative impact on the fashion for snuff boxes. Within a couple of decades, snuff boxes have become an extremely rare phenomenon.
Among the accessories with which lovers and conspirators could exchange messages were not only snuff boxes. The fan became the most ambiguous and eloquent "helper" of ladies' flirting.
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