Tobacco box

1781

Not on view

The box is oblong with rounded ends. The cover is similar to that of Number v, 1. The calendar is flanked by portraits of Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII, inscribed, respectively: Voor 'chris 45 (45 B.C.), and 1482. The box is dated, on the bottom line of the calendar, 1781.

The underside carries a log timer or table to measure the speed of ships. It is surmounted by a medallion containing the image of Amerigo Vespucci. This portrait bears the date 1497. Inscribed at the bottom: Den eeuwig duerenden almenak (The everlasting almanac).

For a fuller discussion of this box, see the text, above.

Rims are lined and edges molded. The front side has the following inscription: Reght door zee (Straight ahead). A similar box is illustrated in Wolf-Dieter Könenkamp, Iserlohner Tabaksdosen, Bilder einer Kriegszeit (Münster, 1982) p. 15, fig. 10. See also Ernst Dossmann, lserlohner Tabaksdosen. erzählen (Iserlohn, 1981) pp. 21, 22; figs. 9, 10.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Tobacco box
Date: 1781
Culture: Dutch
Medium: Brass
Dimensions: 1 1/2 x 6 5/8 x 1 7/8 in. (3.8 x 16.8 x 4.8 cm)
Classification: Metalwork-Brass
Credit Line: Gift of Joseph W. Drexel, 1889
Object Number: 89.2.25
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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