19th Century Beech Snuff Box With Silver Cartouche, Waisted Sides and Hidden Hinge, Circa 1820

The hidden hinge snuff box was invented by John Sandy towards the end of the 18th century in the town of Alyth, Perthshire. He made the knuckles of the snuff box’s hinge form alternately from those of the lid and the back of the box, with a metal rod passing very precisely through the centre. This rod was a little shorter than the box so as not to protrude through the ends, which he then plugged, rendering the mechanism invisible. His invention was taken over by Charles Stiven of Laurencekirk, from where it became known as the Laurencekirk snuff box, and then spread to at least 50 other Scottish snuff box manufacturers by the early 1820s, most of them in Ayrshire.