Pair of Tobacco Jars

Place of OriginDelft, Holland, Netherlands

Datelate 18th century

Dimensions10 1/4 × 4 1/2 × 5 in. (26 × 11.4 × 12.7 cm)

Mediumfaience

ClassificationCeramics

Credit LineGift of Florence Scott Libbey

Object number

1912.104A-B

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 29

DescriptionTin glaze. Blue painted decoration. Brass top.

Label TextThe tobacco plant was native to the Americas, where it was used by Indigenous peoples in religious ceremonies, as medicine, and for trade. With the arrival of Europeans on the continent, its use spread quickly throughout Europe and the rest of the world through the reach of colonialism. When Europeans imported domesticated varieties, tobacco became a lucrative early crop in British America, producing extraordinary wealth through enslaved labor. Tobacco jars often depicted images alluding to the crop’s origin and typically included racial stereotyping of Native Americans—a practice that continues in commercial tobacco marketing to the present day. The label beneath the image indicates the type or grade of tobacco.