Parquetry Inlaid Horn Snuff Box

Origin: English
Period: Nineteenth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1850
Height: 3 cms
Width: 9.5 cms
Internal Depth: 2 cms

Of rectangular shape, the hinged lid inlaid with diagonal strips of light coloured horn and an overhanging lip, opening to a plain interior, carved from a single piece of dark horn.  This is a truly tactile little box, with sloping sides and corners. and a wonderfully smooth feel.Horn has been used to create storage objects for millennia.

Strong, yet light and soft enough to whittle, its naturally hollow shape is suited for drinking vessels, jugs, casket or gunpowder horns. It is also used for inlay, owing to its natural variation in colour and translucent quality.