So after a fit of desire seeing a rams horn snuff mull on the WoS website and then seeing the all but $300 price tag and realizing I could never purchase one without being condemned to sleeping on the couch for the next year; I decided to make my own. So far it is going rather swimmingly although it is nowhere even close to the beauty on the site and such. My question is this, on the video posted by Stoogsy he found on British Pathe, they showed a snuff mull with a spoon and some type of brush attached that the gentleman used to brush the lapels of his suit coat. Does anyone know what that brush is made from? Is that a snuff accessory that is still made and sold anywhere (I haven’t been able to find one myself yet), and finally if not any ideas about what would make a good alternative? I know it’s a minor, if not somewhat superfluous, detail and that my mull isn’t going to be anywhere near the pricey work of art of old. I would just like to have it equipped with the traditional “bells-and-whistles” that the mulls of yore had
Sounds like a cool project!
That brush is just a hare’s foot, usually called a rabbit’s foot in the US. Should be easy enough to get.
You can get rabbit foots at Cracker Barrel.
A rabbits foot! Simple enough to acquire! Thanks a great deal Snuffgrinder! One less bug to work out!
http://snuffhouse.org/discussion/2550/horn-snuffboxes/#Item\_51 This thread might be useful to you.
Actually that thread was quite useful! I have the horn mull and base assembled and a silver chain attached and ready for accessories but as for the container and lid to go inside or on top of the horn and hold the snuff I was still trying to design something functional and aesthetically pleasing so that gave me some good ideas. Since the horn I had was I bulls horn I had acquired that was not much bigger than a powder horn I needed to construct a bas for it to stand upright on a table, that I accomplished with a polished white-tail deer antler. Once I get this container worked out it will be a quantum leap toward completion. If this completes well and I am satisfied with it I am going to purchase a ram’s horn shofar (the only way I have seen ram horn for sale) and do another more fancy version
Your mention of powder horns reminded me of this historical conversion: http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/museum/case1/powder\_horn.html
That is insanely beautiful. The silver work is amazing. I love the silver antlers that it rests on. Absolutely beautiful piece.
Don’t forget to trim the nails on your rabbit’s feet! Ouch!
You’re supposed to use the side of the foot to wipe off any excess snuff, not pick your nose with it.
You may be surprised that it is extemely hard to find a real rabbits foot. Nearly all the ones available are plaster material formed under the “fur” to feel like claws and paw bones. They say the left rear hind leg is the only lucky leg of a rabbit. I’m guessing the other three paws are used for snuff wipers?
It wouldn’t be hard to find a real rabbits foot at all. I live in rural Pennsylvania (plenty of rabbits) and possess a healthy selection of firearms. No finding a real rabbits foot is not an issue at all. I haven’t had rabbit stew in a long time anyway.
Well, I was talking if a person was in the market to PURCHASE one…that’s where the tom-foolery is taking place.
I gotcha. I don’t know if I would want to go with a purchased one even if they were real. All the ones I have ever seen anywhere were like blue, pink, red…I want the natural fur color
The mull in that 60s snuff party video a while back was freakin awesome! Can’t wait to see your project results.
I will post some pictures when I am finished. I hope no one is expecting anything of the caliber of what was in that video. If I could make something that beautiful I’d be doing this for a living. So far what I have is coming together nicely. It’s a black and silver hued cow/bull horn mounted on a polished white tail antler, I took copper bracelet apart and used the thin twisted pieces to make a spoon and larger scoop (box filling) and then used the thickest part to make a collar around the horn where it attaches to the antler. I just bought the materials today to make the actual container/lid section that will be down inside the hollow of the horn. So far so good…which kind of worries me because it’s been going so smoothly so far that hair ripping roadblock could be just around the corner with this container assembly
Here is the great lady of Kendal with another monstrous mull (hope the picture appears). The simplest mull is a silver box set in horn. The examples here are called ‘Regimental Mulls’ since it was the custom to use complete skull mulls in the Officers’ Mess. http://snuffhouse.org/discussion/comment/120001/#Comment\_120001 The story behind the word mull is interesting. Apparently derived from the Scots’ pronunciation of mill, the ‘Critical Essay on Snuff’ of 1835 tells that - “The particular intonation of the French is undoubtedly to be ascribed to their excessive indulgence in snuff, which, by clogging up their nose causes them to speak as if they were troubled by a perpetual cold in the head. Though it has been frequently remarked that Scotsmen acquire the pronunciation of the French language much sooner than Englishmen, yet the true reason has not been satisfactorily explained. This facility on the part of the Scotch is not owing to any peculiar delicacy of the ear, but to the circumstances of their nasal organs being better tuned than the English in consequence of their being greater snuff-takers.” The snuff is placed in silver boxes mounted in the skull. Attached are by chains are various implements such as a small rake, a spoon, a spade for larger portions, a hare’s foot for dusting the lip and a mallet and pricker. More on Regimental Mulls http://www.scotsdgmuseum.com/pages/silver/rams-head.php http://www.cameronians.org/museum/starobjects.html http://writeantiques.com/antique-snuff-boxes-collection-not-to-be-sniffed-at/ http://willhutchison.com/blog/2010/02/27/a-most-unusual-rams-head-snuff-mull/ http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=5394 All these rams began their careers as regimental mascots. Faithful service continued after the mascot’s death by contriving the regimental snuff-mull for the Officers’ Mess. Waste not want not, so presumably the rest of the animal went on mutton stew as you suggest.
As an update…since I am not a silversmith or metalsmith at all I had to improvise on the container and lid, however it would appear I met with at least a degree of success. I used an inch and a 1/4 PVC cap as the actual snuff compartment and mounted it inside the hollow of the horn and made a lid out of paper mache. Once it dries I will resin it, paint it, add the accessories and for all intents and purposes it will be complete!
You could have also gilded it.