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Description: | Cast lead knob from the lid of a lead tobacco box, sub-triangular in plan, and mushroom-shaped in profile, with the remains of the circular attachment plate, at the base of the knob, that would have been riveted to the lead lid. The remains of the rivet, which also appears to be lead, are protruding from inside the centre of the underside of the plate. The handle has been crudely made and is less decorative than the usual rosette-shaped or oval examples, but the box may have been more uniform in shape and more finished. Tobacco had to be kept moist to smoke so small lead containers with lead covers, to compress the tobacco so that it retained its moisture, were initially produced in the late 17th century. During the 18th-century there was a demand for more ornate boxes, made of wood and earthenware, but these were lead-lined and had an inner lid of lead to help make the box airtight. The pottery examples were also fitted with a lead lid (Bailey, 2000, 62).Bailey (2000) illustrates a similar example on pages 62-3, Figs.1-4, which are dated from the Georgian period.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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