Tobacco box

This brass tobacco box was probably made in Holland in the 18th century. It is engraved with the Virgin of Kevelaer on the lid and St Anthony of Padua on the base. Kevelaer is in the Lower Rhineland, on the trade route between Amsterdam and Cologne. It was visited by many Dutch pilgrims.

The Dutch inscription below the Virgin translates as 'Come pilgrims, honour this Virgin with diligence; then she will hear your prayer before you return. She is the advocate for us all, therefore visit her at Kevelaer'.

The cult of the Virgin of Kevelaer is based on a miracle-working engraving of the Virgin of Luxembourg which was housed in a chapel at Kevelaer in the 1640s. The engraving attracted 100,000 visitors a year during the first half of the eighteenth century, and led to the production of many ceramic, metal and print souvenirs.

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