As I mentioned in the previous entry, here is another mini directly from an episode of Downton Abbey: a Queen Anne table showcasing a collection of snuff boxes.
Here are a couple of stills from the episode in which you can see the table in question, belonging to Lord Grantham:
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| Lord Grantham in front of the table |
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| Several snuff boxes... |
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| ... but one is missing... |
You can check out the episode 5 in season 1 to find out what happened to the lost box. There is also a mention of snuff boxes in the movie Amadeus - a maid mentions that Mozart used to have 7 boxes but now he only has one left. You can see the maid holding a box, but you cannot see it:
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| The maid showing the box to Salieri |
The history behind snuff boxes is fascinating, so I encourage you to do a bit of reading on them.
Let me talk about how I made the snuff boxes. First, I looked for an appropiate table to display them, and found it in the shape of a mahogany Queen Anne table. It even has a small drawer, but as of now, I have kept the drawer empty:
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| Picture courtesy of Beautifully Handmade |
As always with miniatures, the most difficult part is: how do I make a box so tiny, and how to make it look good too? The answer is Bindels Ornaments. I perused their catalogue to see what I could use to make and decorate little boxes. Do you know they have a workshop to teach you precisely that? I purchased several kinds of findings, and my imagination took flight!
I made the boxes in several sizes, but mostly two shapes: round and square. I found out that some snuff boxes had erotic art in them, so I tried and found several paintings that suited the purpose. I scaled them down, printed them and glued them to the lids of several boxes. Some others have metallic decorations and gems. Here is the final collection already in the display table:
The silver box in the second line is actually a powder box from Aderon, made of sterling silver, and it even opens! The rest are pieces from Bindels. The painting in the smallest golden box is 6 mm! I had to use a puncher to cut it. The rest I cut by hand.
I am so happy with it! It is already in its final place at Kassandra's parlor:
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| It's kind of big, but who cares? |
