Name

Masonic Treen Rosewood Boot Snuff Box

Origin/date 

UK, first half of the 19th century.

Material and dimensions

Rosewood, 11 cm (l) x 5 cm (w) x 3 cm (h).

Description

A snuff box in the form of a shoe, decorated with stump work Masonic emblems (sun, moon, stars, bible, square and compass, ladder, sword, hand, coffin, anchor, etc.) Interior with skull and cross bones. 

Provenance

From the masonic Collection of the late Mr. Albert Edwards Collins Nice. Auctioned at Rosebery’s. South London’s Fine Art & Antiques Auction House, Tuesday, 18 March 2014, lot 234.

Literature

For an almost identical box in the phoenix masonic museum, dated 1836, see:                               http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/Masonic_Folk_Art_Shoe_Snuff_1836.htm