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Georgian Brass Mounted cowry shell snuff box. The full shell cut and brass mounted, the mounts bright cut, shaped thumb rest, late18th or early 19th century. 3 inches long by approx 2 inches wide. Hinge and catch are in good working order.
Snuffboxes made of cowry shell were common and often mounted in chased silver, sometimes even in gold. Cowry shells were rare at the time.
From the widespread use of ``snuff `` originated the name:
`` anatomical snuff box``, depression between two tendons just proximal to the thumb for placing and then sniffing powdered tobacco, or “snuff.”