A very rare Papier Mache "Thames Tunnel" Souvenir Snuff Box. English and made circa 1843.
A very rare Papier Mache "Thames Tunnel" Souvenir Snuff Box. English and made circa 1843.
375759
The Papier Mache Box is rectangular in form with a hinged cover. These souvenir papier-mâché table snuff boxes commemorated the Thames Tunnel. On the lid is an illustration showing the tunnel running beneath a working River Thames filled with ships and warehouses and a church. Public enthusiasm for the newly opened tunnel encouraged retailers and manufacturers to produce a range of Thames Tunnel souvenirs. Their price and quality varied to cater for all budgets. Most were everyday items such as snuff boxes and needle cases.
The Thames Tunnel, or Wapping-Rotherhithe Tunnel, was a tunnel built under the Thames River in London, from Rotherhithe to Wapping, by Marc Isambard Brunel, 1825-42, the first subaqueous tunnel in history. To drive his heading, Brunel invented the tunnelling shield, one of the basic tools of modern civil engineering. The completed tunnel, 1506 feet in length, whose 23x37 foot cross section was for some time the largest of any soft-ground tunnel. It is in regular use today as part of the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground.
Length: 3.6 inches, 9 cm.
Width: 2.5 inches, 6.25 cm.
Height: 0.9 inches, 2.25 cm.
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