Cooper Brothers & Sons Antique Edwardian Sterling Silver Commemorative Box

An exceptional, fine and impressive antique German silver gilt tobacco box; an addition to our 17th century silverware collection. This exceptional antique 17th century German silver...

A fine and impressive antique Victorian English sterling silver table snuff box; an addition to our diverse silverware collection. This fine antique sterling silver table snuff box has a rectangular form with rounded corners. The surface of this Victorian snuff box...

An exceptional, fine and impressive, unusual and rare antique Edwardian English sterling silver estate/housekeepers box; an addition to the ornamental silverware collection This e...

A fine antique continental sterling silver and transfer printed box; part of our continental silverware collection This antique continental ste...

Offered is a stunning Sheffield silver keepsake box dating to 1900, with associated hallmark. This small box includes a clean interior and rounded corners. The box is free of names or initials, but would have been used to house keepsakes such as jewelry or cufflinks. A well maintained, elegant piece, this antique silver box is an excellent addition to any silver collection. Trinket or keepsake boxes have taken on many forms since their first conception in ancient times. However their purpose remains the same; to store jewelry and other items precious to the owner. Originally, these boxes were used specifically for jewelry. These were in common use as early as 5000 BC in Ancient Egypt, when the majority of Egyptians, both male and female, wore jewelry. Boxes were used to keep these gemstone encrusted items safe. In Ancient Rome, jewelry was a status symbol. Rings and brooches were utilized to represent ones status in society. Again, boxes were needed for security and storage purposes. Finding early examples of these are quite rare. Victorian and Edwardian examples of trinket boxes are far more common. This is because owning jewellery was a luxury until the Victorian era- let alone possessing so much a box was needed to store it all. Fine jewelry and other items became available to the masses after the industrial revolution due to the reduction in production costs. This led to a demand for trinket boxes, which were much smaller than jewelry boxes and therefore better suited to the needs of the middle class who did not yet possess an abundance of jewelry. In Victorian households, collectables and other items of interested were also stashed inside these boxes. This is why they are known as trinket or keepsake boxes, rather than just jewelry boxes, although of course jewelry was also stored in them. Trinket boxes were produced in large numbers around this time. Many were lined with colored plush or velvet or rich wood. More elaborate designs had interior divisions and trays for rings and other pieces of jewellery. It was also common to see trinket boxes so small that they could only contain one item, such as a single ring. Ornate exteriors were created to reflect the value of the trinket boxes contents. The Edwardian era saw the introduction of new styles of trinket box. These included small circular or oblong boxes...

1900s English sterling box with gold wash interior. The box is hallmarked.

A very good 19th century Victorian sterling silver snuff box of oblong form, showing a hinged lid engraved with machined undulating wavy motifs, centred by a monogrammed shield-shaped cartouche, opening to a richly gilded interior with both the lid & base bearing Birmingham hallmarks...

19th century English long silver trinket box.