[BURNS (ROBERT, 1759-1796, poet)] FINE, RARE MAUCHLINE-WARE DOUBLE SNUFF BOX DECORATED WITH SCENES AND VERSES FROM BURNS, the local poet, the verses being six lines from each of two of Burns's most famous poems 'Tam o' Shanter' ('He screw'd the pipes and gart them skirl...') and 'The Cotters Saturday Night' ('The cheerfu' supper done we [sic for 'wi'] serious face...'), with foliage drawn in the central section and across the integral hinges, decoration in pen and ink, highly polished all over, the underside in rough granulated unhewn state, overall length 10½ inches, width 5½ inches, height, 3 inches, fine patination and condition, by Smith Boxworks, Mauchline, Scotland [c. 1820]

Mauchline in Ayrshire, situated only three miles from Burns's parental home, was celebrated in the early nineteenth century for high quality treen made from local woods by the Smith Brothers. The present snuff box is a particularly large and fine example of their wares. 'Tam o' Shanter' which is always receited on Burns Night was Burns's own favourite among all his poems. Burns naturally had close personal connections with nearby Mauchline, a town that should be more famous, if on no other account, for the laconic entry in its Minute Book: 'only 24 fornicators in the parish since the last sacrament'. Burns wrote a doggrel tribute to 'The Belles of Mauchline', two of whom, at least, he got pregnant, including his future wife Jean Armour, the eldest daughter of a Mauchline stone-mason. Among his closest friends as a young man were fellow 'ram-stam' boys, James Smith who kept a drapery shop in the town, and John Richmond, the younger son of the local laird. Burns was inspired to write 'Love and Liberty' in the hotel des vagrants in Mauchline, a tavern called Poosie Nansie's.

£3,500