{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O122572"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O122572/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9113/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AB9113/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AB9113","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AB9148","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O122572/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O122572","accessionNumber":"S.604:1&2-1997","objectType":"Snuff box","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The lid of this box is illustrated with a transfer-printed engraving of the comedian John Liston (1776-1846) in some of his favourite roles, which included Paul Pry, Moll Flaggon, Domine Sampson, Lord Grizzle, Maw Worm, Lubin Log, Sam Swipes and Van Dunder. John Liston was the leading comic actor of the first half of the nineteenth century whose career spanned from 1799 until 1837 and who made his name as the interfering busy-body character Paul Pry.  Liston became very well known and greatly respected, and commanded the highest salary ever known for a stage comedian.\r\n\r\nThe mass market for theatrical memorabilia developed in the eighteenth century and flourished in the nineteenth century, coinciding with the commercial production of papier maché for objects such as boxes and frames.  In 1772 a patent for the production of a durable papier maché was granted to Henry Clay of Birmingham who developed a process whereby layers of paper like blotting paper were pasted on to a wood or metal core, each layer being polished snooth with pumice stone.  The earliest boxes were hand painted but after about 1815 hand-painted boxes were supplanted by those decorated with coloured prints, pasted on and varnished. A wide variety of subjects were used, from prints of buildings such as the Crystal Palace, to images of landscapes and animals. Liston was one of several actors and actresses whose image featured on boxes such as this, which have generally been described as snuff boxes, too large to be portable but intended for table-top use.","physicalDescription":"Snuff box and lid.  The body of the box is painted black and the lid features a varnished, transfer-printed image of the actor John Liston standing behind a screen featuring several images of himself in various roles.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Clay, Henry","id":"A17400"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"possibly"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Wood","id":"AAT11914"},{"text":"Papier maché","id":"AAT14245"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Wood and papier maché","categories":[{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2006AB9113","2006AB9148"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES355459"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES355459"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"lid","id":""}],[{"text":"snuff box","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Birmingham","id":"x28748"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1840","earliest":"1835-01-01","latest":"1844-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"2.0","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"box and lid","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"10.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of the top","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"10.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of the base","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Samuel Johnson once visited Henry Clay's papier maché factory. For the entry of 20/21 September 1774, Johnson wrote in his Diary, 'We breakfasted with Hector and visited the Manufacture Papier mache. The paper which they use is smooth whited brown; the varnish is polished with rotten stone'. He was referring to his visit to Henry Clay's factory where he saw 'his process of japanning by pressing sheet of paper together instead of using paper pulp'. Clay had been trained by Baskerville in the art of japanning and among the materials finished with enamel was a kind of paper pulp, used for making various objects, such as snuff-boxes and picture frames. It is believed that Baskerville himself introduced the process about 1750 but in 1772 Clay produced and patented a material, also made from paper but more durable, which could be more easily worked, was better finished and lent itself better to the making of objects of real beauty. Taking an active part in the life of Birmingham society, Clay was appointed High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1790, and is justly recognized as one of the significant revolutionary players of eighteenth-century Birmingham alongside Baskerville, Taylor and Boulton.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Box featuring a transfer-printed, varnished print of the actor John Liston (1776-1846).  Probably intended as a table-top snuff box.  Papier maché, probably made in Birmingham, England, c.1846.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>European and American Snuff Boxes 1730-1830</i> by Clair Le Corbeiller, Battsford 1966."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Liston, John","id":"N1237"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.604:2-1997","S.604:1-1997"],"accessionNumberNum":"604","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1997,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","lid","snuff box"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-12","recordCreationDate":"2006-04-03","availableToBook":true}}