This for the benefit of commenters on my previous blog entry. The maker's mark on the base is too faint to photograph well, but is Dixon and Son. The engraved monogram is, I think J (or possibly G) S, with the date 1827. Although, technically, this is in the reign of George IV, it's near enough to Crowbard's guess of Regency to be correct. I think all of you did remarkably well, and got this completely right ( I could be accused of pedantry in the one or two very minor corrections I've pointed out). In general you are all becoming very scholarly in your answers. Skippy was, as usual, very good indeed. Rog spotted my quote from the Gondoliers and looked it up to get pewter. Very impressive - all of you.
P.s. I should have said that the 'presser' is kept inside the jar, as Crowbard says, to keep the tobacco compressed. This keeps the tobacco from drying out (just moist). It works, too. When the medical profession allowed me to smoke a pipe, I kept the baccy in a similar jar with a lead presser, and this kept the tobacco nicely fresh.
5 comments:
Lovely sharp Photos Mike, what a lovely thing it is.
Thank you Crowbard. I think it's because they were taken in daylight. It does seem to make a difference.
Would it be considered a humidor or is it called something else?
Hello Kippy. The whole thing is usually called a tobacco jar, or coloquially (in East Anglia at least) a baccy box; but the 'presser' kept inside the jar could be known, I suppose as 'the humidor', that is a device for keeping the contents moist. I think the term 'presser' is more usual though.
I think I should also mention my daughter Nea, who gave a near perfect answer! I think perhaps she has seen the item before, but to remember the faint monogram, the correct date and the maker's name (which isn't on display being underneath the item), shows she must have a very good memory, and great attention to detail. Well done, daughter!
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