Snuffbox 1812 - 1815

This is a silver snuffbox, made by John Targee, an American silversmith active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The act of taking snuff, or powdered tobacco, was more than a personal habit; it was a social ritual, a performance of status and belonging. Consider how this small, personal object embodies larger social meanings. The silver, a precious material, signals wealth and status, while the box itself speaks to the rituals of elite social life. The neoclassical design, popular at the time, further associates the owner with sophistication and taste. What alternative narratives might be missing from this picture? Snuff was derived from tobacco which was often grown by enslaved people, and the raw material imported into Europe and the Americas. Thus, the snuffbox is not just an object of personal pleasure but a reminder of the global networks of trade and exploitation that underpinned elite lifestyles. We can see how objects like this snuffbox are deeply entwined with histories of power, pleasure, and inequality.