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Hi! My mom got these at an auction about 15 years ago. They are 14 inches tall, and supposedly made from bone. But a piece fell off the back of the man (about 1 inch by 1 inch) and it appears that they are made up of lots of pieces attached to wood. Anyway, the heads have spoons on them, but there is not much of an area inside the statues to store anything. Does anybody know what these were used for, and where they are from? Thanks!

They are snuff bottles. The little spoon is to hold a pinch of snuff up to one's nostril before inhaling vigorously to coat the inside of the nasal passage with snuff.

Very elegant addictive habit!

Not only are they snuff bottles, but very nice ones too !

Here is a set I am presently watching at Live Auctioneers. This example is not near the quality of your set, yet is expected to close at 300.00. Like I said.. These are not even in the same ball park as yours.



URL Title :A pair of hand painted ivory figural snuff bottles

Thank you so much for the reply! I appreciate you taking the time to post some photos. It is really cool to see other examples of them. I am thinking about trying to sell mine, but I don't know who(m) I should go through, or how much money I should expect them to fetch. Until then, they will just sit on a shelf in my office, collecting dust. But, again, I really appreciate your reply! Have a wonderful new year!
-E

Your very welcome..

That really is an exceptional set. Your lucky to have them.. Even with a little dust on them :)

As you already know they are snuff bottles and better executed than most. Typically, snuff bottles take the form of small bottles with the little spoon. See below for examples.

Cheers,
Stan

Your statues are modern decorative snuff bottles carved from ox bone.

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