Large, cast iron tobacco box in the form of a seated, bearded Sir John Falstaff wearing sixteenth-century garb with a large belt and ruffled collar in a scene from Shakespeare's "Henry IV" (act 2, scene 4) in which Falstaff pulls his dagger and proclaims "…this chair shall be my state, this dagger my scepter…!" Falstaff is seated in an armchair whose armrests end in goat's heads, below the chair on either side is a bearded male mask; Falstaff's crossed feet rest on a small stool, the chair and stool rest on a base decorated with scrolls; his right arm is raised and his hand holds the handle of his dagger (the blade is broken off); his left arm rests on the chair's armrest while his left hand supports a long sword, which rests against his knee. The upper torso is hinged and opens to reveal the interior of the tobacco box.

Tobacco Box “Sir John Falstaff”

After a model by Johann Carl Wilhelm Kratzenberg, foundry Siméon Pierre Devaranne, or Royal Prussian Iron Foundry, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

About 1834

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