Decorative box

It may take a very modest form, covered in leather and lined with satin, or it may reach the monumental proportions of the jewel cabinets which were made for Marie Antoinette, one of which is at Windsor Castle, and another at the Palace of Versailles; the work of Schwerdfeger as cabinetmaker, Degault as miniature-painter, and Thomire as chaser.

These were used for containing snuff, which is a mixture of grounded tobacco and scented oils, these items were popularly used during the 18th century when snuff-taking was fashionable.

People of all social classes used these boxes when snuff was at its peak of popularity and the wealthy carried a variety of fancy snuff-boxes created by craftsmen in metal-work, jewellers and enamellers.

Even after snuff-taking ceased to be a general habit, the practice lingered among diplomats, doctors, lawyers and other professionals as well as members of professions where smoking was not possible, such as miners and print workers and snuff still has a considerable following, particularly amongst ex-smokers.

As Charles Maurice de Talleyrand explained, the diplomatic corps found a ceremonious pinch to be a useful aid to reflection in a business interview.

At the coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom, Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, the court jewellers, were paid £8,205 for snuff-boxes for gifts to foreign representatives.

In the Middle Ages, people usually brought their own cutlery with them when eating away from home, and the more expensive types came with their own custom-made leather cases, stamped and embossed in various designs.

Occasionally flat-topped containers, they were most frequently either rod-shaped, or tall and narrow with a sloping top necessitated by a series of raised veins for exhibiting the handles of knives and the bowls of spoons.

[citation needed] An étui [fr][4] (from the French, for keeper or holder)[5] is a woman's ornamental case, usually carried in a pocket or purse.

It holds small tools for daily use such as folding scissors, bodkins, sewing needles (a needlecase), hairpins, tweezers, makeup pencils, etc.

[7] These boxes were made of various materials such as wood, leather, ivory, silver, gold, tortoise shell, mother of pearl, and shagreen.