An impressive Easter egg

31 March 2024

The egg that we exhibit around Easter is one of royal class. Firstly the size: 22 cm. high. Point two: silver mounting, even with a double band halfway that enables the top half to open as a lid. For those who do not realize it is a tobacco jar, made by the Dutch silversmith Jurriën Schiff, just before the turn of the last century. He used a real ostrich egg as the starting point for his unique tobacco pot. Mounting wondrous objects from nature is a tradition that dates back to the sixteenth century, when monarchs established a Kunstkammer or Cabinet of Curiosities with these types of rarities. This impressive unique piece can now be seen in the Amsterdam Pipe Museum.

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