SNUFF BOX. HORN, WOOD, METAL. SPAIN, 1789.

Pastoral box. Antler or horn, wood, metal. Spanish school, 1789. Oval box with a flat lid decorated on the outside with a series of elements engraved on the shaft from which it is made. The base has some inscriptions. Under the hinge appears the date (possibly of manufacture) 1789, with the inscription in capital letters “Long live my master Jesus” (who may also have been the creator of the box). The lid has a rather curious scene: a Latin cross, flanked by two spheres (perhaps the sun and the moon, thus alluding to the Crucifixion), and with two arms arranged in an attitude of prayer emerging from the base of the cross, and, below, a human figure praying with two palms on its hands (note the halo); the area is completed by two stripes and a series of bands functioning as a frame. This type of box, of popular tradition, was common in ancient times and was usually made by shepherds or cattlemen themselves to store snuff or tobacco.

· Size: 7x6x2 cms