Swiss Snuff Boxes and Tobacco Boxes

A very fine silver gilt and Imperial Yellow guilloche enamel singing bird box with timepiece, by C. A. Marguerat, with a Nightingale on the lid. The Nightingale has appeared in many...

Cigar Cutter & Vesta Case From our Black Forest collection, we are delighted to offer this very rare and unusual Swiss Black Forest carving of a tobacco jar shaped as a Blacksmiths Anvil complete with secret compartment and secret catch. The Black Forest Anvil stands upon a wooden tree trunk base realistically carved with wood knots. Beside the anvil sits an ebonised decorative carved hammer and a pair of pliers that have a cigar cutter built in between them. When the cigar is placed and cut using the pliers, the cap end falls into a basket through a small chute carved into the side of the trunk. The Anvil at the top of the contains a hidden vesta compartment for storing matches and is accessed via the hidden horse shoe catch in the top of the anvil when turned a quarter the catch releases and the top of the anvil can be removed. To access the tobacco jar in the centre a second secret catch can be pushed to unlock the lid which pivots open. To open the catch a small oval section of the base must be pressed down which releases the spring loaded lid. The hollowed centre contains the original foil lining for storing the tobacco. The Black Forest Tobacco Jar...

This special and important Swiss gold music box is chased and engraved with a set of musical instruments surrounded by elaborate swirls of ornate foliage. Embossed with a delightful braided gold design, the two-compartment box features an exquisite oval agate key, which opens a recessed lock in the base of the box. Such a box would have been a prized possession and would have been able to fit neatly into a gentleman’s waistcoat pocket. Ingenious miniature portable devices, musical snuff boxes...

19th century hand-carved humidor in the form of a dog's head. The dog is very whimsical with a hat, which lifts to reveal a compartment for storage and finished with a cigar and a bo...

Rectangular box with three tones of gold and royal blue enamel. The hinged lid is embellished with a multicolored gold medallion in relief featuring a bouquet of roses and tulips, se...

This exceptional 19th-century gold box appears at first glance be an exquisite snuff box adorned with a charming Swiss enamel vista encircled by a multitude of natural pearls. A quick wind of the key, however, reveals the complex mechanism hidden inside, and the box plays a wistful tune. Once known as carillons à musique...

Antique early-19th Century Swiss 18k gold vinaigrette, of rectangular form with cut corners, the lid features a seated cherub draped in red silk, engaged in writing, framed by a deli...

This exceptional Swiss silver-gilt musical snuff box was crafted by the famed François Nicole. At first glance, the diminutive piece appears to simpl...

Black Forest figural carved wood humidor in the form of a monkey's head with a hinged lid carved as a hat, around the neck is a ruffled collar above a circular base with carved detail.

19th century black forest humidor hand-carved in the shape of a dog's head. His hat lifts to reveal storage for tobacco or cigars. The carving on this piece is wonderfully detailed a...

A very early 19th century and fine engine turned silver gilt musical snuffbox. The case stamped F.M. and with early 19th century Swiss export marks and European import marks. Comb bar stamped C.Z bedplate C6. Serial number 147. The cylinder movement with three train weighted escape, 23 part sectional comb with all teeth in pairs, comb bar and fitting screws blued, engraved in script in bedplate verso- 'Jn. Pre. Desire, A Geneva, fecit, an 1813'. Playing a complex single air, in the small superbly engine tooled case...