Name/Title
Blue Tobacco HumidorEntry/Object ID
987.3.54a,bDescription
Two piece ceramic tobacco humidor made in the popular "Majolica" style first introduced at the 1851 London Exhibition of All Nations. The humidor is decorated with a navy blue glaze over the body and lid, the body includes floral motifs including large green leaves and pink flowers, the top of the humidor lid includes a three dimensional tobacco pipe glazed in brown, grey and black. Ceramics producers from around the world decorated household items with scenes from the Classics, animals, people, and specimens of natural history to capture Victorian curiosity. Objects like these catered to the newly emerging middle-class of society, who had some disposable income with which to purchase non-essential items like a decorated humidor, but could not afford high-end luxury goods like one made of precious metals, woods like sandalwood, and animal products like ivory. This artefact was also functional and tasked with keeping commercial pipe tobacco fresh and pleasant to smoke. Without moisture the tobacco would go dry and become flavourless crumbs.Context
This Tobacco Humidor relates to the museum's mandate through its use as a part of the working collection. While the humidor was not donated from within the Goulburn region but rather near Ottawa it can be inferred that similar middle-class citizens from the Goulbrun region around 1850 could have access to the same or similar model of Tobacco Humidor.Collection
Artefact Collection: SecondaryLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
HumidorNomenclature Primary Object Term
Container, CigarNomenclature Sub-Class
Containers for Smoking & TobaccoNomenclature Class
Household AccessoriesNomenclature Category
Category 02: FurnishingsDimensions
Height
13.5 cmWidth
13.5 cmDepth
9 cmDimension Notes
2022-12-06Material
ceramic - céramique, ceramic - céramique
