Snuffboxes are Nothing to Sniff At : As Collectibles, Prices Have Skyrocketed in Last 13 Years

Snuffboxes can make good investments. Prices for the finest gold snuffboxes have risen by 1,000% since 1975, and some of them now sell for more than $1 million.

The growth rate tapers off as you descend the quality scale, reaching zero growth for the worn and battered engine-turned silver boxes of the 19th Century, according to an article in a recent issue of Connoisseur magazine.

There is a vast assortment of boxes made in silver, gold and other materials, most of good craftsmanship, some of them exquisite works of art.

At the top of the scale are the gold boxes of Frederick the Great’s 18th-Century Berlin. One of these, a dazzling creation of gold and mother-of-pearl encrusted with rivers of diamonds and flowers in amethyst, quartz, turquoise and citrine, sold for more than $1 million at a Christie’s sale in Geneva in 1986.

Frederick, who inherited 600 boxes from his mother, had expanded his collection to 1,700 by the time he died in 1786.

Berlin boxes were known for their technically superb relief mosaics carved in ivory, pearl and coral. Flowers, leaves, fruit, even insects were carved in colored hard stone and fixed to background panels of jasper or chrysoprase.

The best of Frederick’s collection are in a class of their own, but next come the very ritzy Russian boxes of the period that can be worth up to $500,000.

Pastoral Scenes

In third place are the finest French examples, often enameled with pastoral scenes derived from Boucher and Fragonard and selling in the $100,000-to-$150,000 range.

And it is still possible to find some collectible snuffboxes in the $20,000-to-$40,000 range that offer astonishing workmanship.

Further down the scale comes a group of Swiss boxes, often prettily enameled, which fetch $5,000 to $25,000. Among the least expensive but still beautiful boxes are the typical 18th-Century English gold-mounted hard stone boxes that go for $1,000 to $3,000.

These categories are not clear-cut. An example by the greatest of English goldsmiths, George Michael Moser, or Swiss enameler Jean-Louis Richter could easily reach $100,000.

Snuff is powdered tobacco mixed with essential oils that is inhaled for a nicotine lift. It never caught on in this country as it did in Europe, where in its 18th-Century heyday it largely displaced smoking.

After 1800, it began to be associated with the foppish behavior and affected flourishes of the Regency dandy, and these little boxes became the focus of an elaborate social ritual and the symbol of vanity and fashion. As the l9th-Century progressed, snuff was replaced by cigars and cigarettes.

The case for investing in snuffboxes and their investment merits must be sized up purely on their status as works of art, since the chance of a resurgence in snuff-taking is remote.

The first impression made by a snuffbox is that it is a miniature work of art. Not surprisingly, the skills that went into creating snuffboxes of even middling quality are virtually extinct.

Damage dramatically reduces values, and buyers pay extra for those in pristine condition. Gold boxes were often considered too precious for everyday use and have survived in better condition.

A new and almost undetectable means of repairing enamel has brought a number of “pristine” enamel boxes onto the market. At the top end of the market, a re-enameled box will be worth 10% to 20% of its value in original condition; lower down the scale, buyers are more tolerant of repairs.