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'Spunk' box

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made at Kirkpatrick-Durham, Kirkcudbrightshire

'Spunk' box
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This wooden box for 'spunks' or sulphur matches dates from the early 19th century. It was turned out on a lathe at Kirkpatrick-Durham in Kirkcudbrightshire.

The box is in the form of a barrel which unscrews two-thirds of the way up. It has the initials R.I. (for Robert Innes) on the bottom.

Sulphur matches or 'spunks' have a long history, and may have been used by the Romans. Chemical methods of making fire were developed in the late 18th century and in the 1830s the first phosphorous matches - 'Congreves' - were introduced.

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