465 - Tobacco jar with pipe smokers and cartouche "TABAC", faience with metal lid, Holland, circa 1910/20

Tobacco jar with pipe smokers and cartouche "TABAC", faience with metal lid, Holland, circa 1910/20 Earthenware (faience), polychrome painted, finely crackled glaze, large bulbous tobacco jar, Holland, circa 1910/20, marked on the base among others "Holland" (faintly legible), on the front at left a European pipe smoker in 18th-century style with plumed hat and blue coat, at right a non-European pipe smoker with loincloth, blue smoke rising from the pipes, between them a green cartouche inscribed "TABAC", surrounded by foliage, multi-tiered lid of gold-coloured metal with small knob, good condition commensurate with age, paint wear to the lid, foot minimally chipped, H. 36 cm. 360-degree photo available on our website. Tobacco jars of Delft faience with brass lids stood on the shelves of Dutch tobacconists in the 18th and early 19th century; the tobacconist filled the desired quantity into a paper bag and put the jar back on the shelf. In the second half of the 18th century the tobacconists became important customers of the Delft manufactories. The front bore the name of the tobacco variety, often accompanied by depictions relating to the contents, such as merchants with tobacco bales, sailing ships and figures personifying America as the country of origin of tobacco. The lid closed the jar, often additionally with parchment or pig's bladder, and kept the tobacco fresh.