The Tobacco Box, Jar, and Tin

The tobacco box, jar, and tin are the three main families of vessels in which pipe smokers stored their tobacco. The distinction arises from where each was used: the box was carried in a pocket, the jar sat on a shelf, and the tin came out of the shop as ready-made packaging.

All three have retreated from everyday use, because none offered the airtightness needed to preserve tobacco's moisture over the long term. Today they are among the most crowded fields within the tobacco-accessory collecting known as tobacciana.

The Box: Tobacco Carried in the Pocket

The pocket box was the most personal piece of a pipe kit, but its repertoire of forms was narrow: in 18th-century England, the body was mostly round or oval, with the top and bottom surfaces kept nearly flat. The real difference lay in material: horn and lacquered iron were common, papier-mâché showier, and silver reserved for a narrow, wealthy circle. In the Netherlands and Germany, meanwhile, engraved brass and copper boxes with lids formed a distinct branch starting from the late 17th century. Records indicate that a brass souvenir box prepared for the 1851 Great Exhibition of London had separate compartments for tobacco, matches, and a clay pipe.

The genre's most celebrated example is not a single object but an accumulation. Henry Monck, in 1713, left a horn box to the society founded in Westminster by former parish overseers. A silver border was added to the lid in 1720; later generations continued this with silver plating, an embossed frame, and plaques each commemorating an event, with new casings commissioned as the box grew. The most debated is the plaque placed inside the lid in 1746, commemorating the Battle of Culloden and the Duke of Cumberland: 19th-century sources attribute the engraving to Hogarth, while the society's own history points to sculptor Henry Cheere (1703-1781), who worked in Westminster.

The box also had a public form: the "honour box" on the tavern table served both as a tobacco container and a piggy bank. A coin dropped through a slot in the lid released the inner catch, and the smoker took their share from the drawer themselves; a short verse on the lid served as a reminder to pay.