Topic: Sowerby Pandora Box with Lid - Rare?

[chloe]

Hi

I saw a Pandora box in a local charity shop today in green, with a lid which seems to be original.  I've had a look around on t'internet and can't seem to see another one anywhere with a lid.  Does this make it rare?  Does £10 seem like a good buy for it, or is that about its right value?

TIA
Chloe

[chloe]

sorry please ignore this - I must have been having a 'moment' - they're all voer the place 

[Anne E.B.]

Here's my Sowerby Biscuit with lid.  (just poking my nose in )

[chloe]

  Yep, you almost never see them 

[Adam]

Ever since I first became properly domesticated (long after I left Gateshead!) I've wondered what on earth use this and similar "biscuit barrels" could have been.  Air tight they were not and biscuits (aka cookies) would have become soft in a day or two.  At the table, weren't biscuits normally presented on a plate rather in one of these?

Just curious, as we made and sold a lot.  Unwanted presents, perhaps?  Come to think of it, we have one (2487 as it happens) containing cotton wool balls.

Adam D.

[Anne E.B.]

Soggy biscuits ... no need to dunk

The figure looks to be holding a mirror and for that reason I always thought it was a vanity/boudoir container.  Certainly ideal for cotton wool balls or tissues.

I wonder where the "Pandora's Box" description came from?

[Frank]

Amazingly I have come across many folk that don't mind their biccies getting soft - so perhaps they were the market, but then they rarely used a box, just emptied packets into bowls and the like. It was always an unpleasant surprise when you take the first bite.

[Lustrousstone]

There are plenty of catalogues containing lidded glass boxes described as biscuit boxes or barrels. When you think about it, what else would they have used, wood isn't easy to clean and therefore would need lining (which is expensive), a tin might have been what you bought your biscuits in (if they weren't loose) and therefore the equivalent of having the milk bottle on the table. These things were designed to be seen and are probably more airtight than you might think. Perhaps I should test my amber one on a few biccies.

[Frank]

We had an aluminium tin, but the most common were tin ones with a tight fitting lid and a desiccator in the handle. Then glass ones with screw on plastic lids or push in glass with plastic gasket.

[chloe]

I can see none of you eat enough biscuits