Vintage kemps chocolate tin in the style of a French snuff box

Vintage Kemp's & Barker & Dobson Antique Casket Biscuit Tin – French Snuff Box Design

A beautifully decorated vintage biscuit and chocolate tin, produced for Kemp's Chocolate Biscuits and Barker & Dobson Chocolates, featuring an elaborate design inspired by an eighteenth-century French enamel snuff box.

Entitled Antique Casket, this rectangular tin features charming romantic and pastoral scenes, colourful floral arrangements and still-life illustrations, all framed by ornate gold-coloured Rococo-style scrollwork against a rich blue background.

The hinged lid opens to reveal a gold-coloured interior, making it a lovely decorative storage box for small keepsakes, letters or other treasures.

A little history

The inscription on the base identifies the design as a reproduction of a French gold enamel snuff box made in Paris around 1760–1761, reproduced by courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The tin was produced for the British confectionery trade. Kemp's was associated with Scribbans-Kemp, a well-established biscuit manufacturer, which acquired the Liverpool chocolate and confectionery business Barker & Dobson in 1952.

This charming example is believed to date from the mid-twentieth century, probably the 1950s–1960s.

Dimensions

Approximately 12 cm wide × 9 cm deep × 6 cm high.

Condition

Vintage condition with age-related surface wear, including rubbing and marks to the decoration, edges and interior. Please study the photographs as they form part of the description.

Why we love it

We love the combination of eighteenth-century French elegance and nostalgic British confectionery history. Originally designed as attractive packaging, this little casket has survived to become a decorative and collectable piece of vintage tinware.

A lovely addition to a tin collection, vintage dressing table or display of charming curiosities.

Dating and attribution are based on the available markings and our research, to the best of our knowledge.