Name/Title
Snuffbox: Col George BurkeEntry/Object ID
994.23.3Description
A silver snuffbox with niello in the repeated groove pattern. The entire box has tarnished to a straw yellow. It is curved to fit in a breast pocket. Silver plated (lack of sterling silver mark)Context
This snuff box belonged to Col. George Thew Burke.
This ornate curved silver box was used to store snuff, a powdered tobacco product. Tobacco plants originated in North and South America and continue to have ritual, medicinal, and ceremonial significance to Indigenous peoples in Canada.
By the 1600s, Indigenous tobacco cultivation became an expanding colonial tobacco economy. Global demand for tobacco products had negative effects on North and South America including the use of unceded land and displacement of Indegenous people to cultivate plants, the cultivation of tobacco was labour intensive and indentured peoples were used to meet labour needs, and “cash crop” farming required the control of natural resources to financially benefit the colonists.
This snuffbox was created c. 1806 by a silversmith named John Shaw of Birmingham, England. By this time smoking pipe tobacco was unpopular in European “polite society” and “pipe-smoking was forced from many fashionable venues. At balls, theatres, and aristocratic parties it was no longer polite to puff” (Dr William Tullett). Snuff was a smokeless alternative and became the fashionable way to consume tobacco.
This object’s donor suggests it belonged to Colonel George Thew Burke. According to family history Burke was struck in the chest by a musket ball during the Battle of Aboukir, Egypt (1801) and was saved by the snuffbox stored in his pocket. The 1806 date of this box suggests Burke owned it while serving with the 100th Regiment of Foot during the War of 1812 and during his efforts in the subsequent colonization of Goulbourn Township.
Why is this important? This object from the Museum’s collection could mean something different to each individual member of our community. It is our role to continue learning about our community’s story, to examine the hidden narratives in our collections and to share these opportunities for discussion.Collection
Artefact Collection: PrimaryLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
SnuffboxNomenclature Primary Object Term
Container, SnuffNomenclature Sub-Class
Smoking & Recreational Drug EquipmentNomenclature Class
Personal GearNomenclature Category
Category 03: Personal ObjectsMaterial
metal - métal, Silver
