Collecting
Carrying snuff was once as commonplace as carrying a phone is today. But as author Kenneth Blakemore remarks in his history of snuff boxes, ‘The art of snuffing is all but unknown to us… all that remains of this once fashionable habit are the miniature boxes, intricately designed and coloured, which were once coveted by people from all walks of life – from royalty to peasants – throughout the world.’
Tobacco was first imported to Europe from the Americas in the 1500s. Smoked or snorted, it was touted as a medicinal cure forinhaling finely ground tobacco through the nose – had become a widespread social habit. But it was not universally celebrated. In 1624, Pope Urban VIII issued a decree, excommunicating anyone using snuff on church property. In the 1640s, Tsar Michael I of Russia banned the import of tobacco and ordered snuff-takers to have their noses cut off (brutal, but effective).
