Lever Nutcracker Combined with a Tobacco Stopper

Materials: Brass.
Dimensions: length 10 cms.
Place of Origin: England.
Date: early 18th century.
Maker: unknown.
Present Location: Nutcracker Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Explanation:

It was a long established custom for nuts to be served at the end of the meal before the smoking of pipes or cigars. Therefore, it is not surprising that the tip of one of the handles of a nutcracker was sometimes designed to act as a tobacco stopper.

Here the flat surface of the stopper is incised with the fleur-de-lis motif and the owner’s initials S. A.  The ‘herringbone’ engraving is typical of the Queen Anne – George I period, so this item probably dates from the early 18th century.

Reference:

Leslie, A., 300 Years of Tobacco Stoppers, Privately Published by the Author, 2012.