Tobacco jar, Staffordshire, ca. 1840-1850
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
ca. 1840-1850
Tobacco jar, Staffordshire, ca. 1840-1850 is an object recorded by Victoria and Albert Museum, dated ca. 1840-1850. The museum's brief description reads: Tobacco jar in form of black boy cleaning boots, unknown maker, ca.
1840-1850, Staffordshire. Museum description: Earthenware tobacco jar in the form of a standing figure of a black boy wearing an apron shining a boot. The jar is hollow to the bottom of the boy's apron. The second boot, behind his left foot, may have been intended for a match or spill holder The museum record gives material recorded as earthenware, lead glaze; measurements Height 30.0 cm; Width 19.0 cm; Depth 14.0 cm; Height 22 cm; Height 11 cm; Width 13 cm; Depth 10.5 cm; place associated: Staffordshire.
These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
Europeans discovered tobacco through their encounters with the indigenous peoples of the Americas who used it in barter and trade. Transferred to the new settlements in Virginia and elsewhere and cultivated with the labour of imported slaves from Africa, it became key to the economic success of the settlements and of Britain. Tobacco smoking was a popular pastime for British men who took it as snuff or smoked it in cheap, disposable clay pipes. ‘Ready-rolled’ cigarettes only became widely available in the 1880s. In Britain tobacco remained strongly associated with black Africans and the apothecaries in which it was sold frequently used a wooden figure of a ‘Blackamoor’ to promote their wares. This tobacco jar, produced in Staffordshire, England, is in the form of a black child who wears an apron and is polishing a boot. In the 18th century it had been considered fashionable in wealthy homes to employ a black servant, especially a young boy, but by the mid 19th century, influenced by slave revolts in the colonies and the British anti-slavery movement, the fashion was less prevalent.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- earthenware, lead glaze
- Dimensions
- Height 30.0 cm; Width 19.0 cm; Depth 14.0 cm; Height 22 cm; Height 11 cm; Width 13 cm; Depth 10.5 cm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Lead-glazed earthenware, with enamel decoration
- Place recorded
- Staffordshire
Identification
- Museum object name
- Tobacco jar
- Museum object number
- C.1&A-1957
- Museum system number
- O123344
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm materials, dimensions, maker and wider type against the holding institution and a specialist reference.