"snuff box" blog posts

Slavery and SnuffSnuff box from the VG&M Collection. A smooth, round dark brown box with the profile of an African man's head. He has curly hair and has an earring. He is also shown with the band of a slave's collar round his neck.

Slavery and Snuff

Sometimes, as a museum curator, you are responsible for items in the collection that you find distasteful and even upsetting. And yet, they represent a story that needs to be told. Here is a little snuff-box which represents a huge injustice in history: the transatlantic slave trade.

Posted on: 6 October 2020