Main image: Set of Four Blue and White Armorial Tobacco Jars and Brass Cover, Delft, c.1820, Aronson Collection (inv. no. D1368)

Tobacco has served as a medicinal, comforting, stimulating, and religious substance. Upon their arrival in the Americas in 1492, Christopher Columbus and his crew noted that Indigenous peoples were using what they described as “torches to incense themselves.”(1) This encounter marked the introduction of tobacco to Europe in the late 15th century. Native Americans had been using tobacco long before this introduction, and Europeans initially regarded it as a medicinal herb.

Over the centuries, tobacco’s influence expanded far beyond medicine and ritual; it permeated language and culture as well. Expressions such as “put that in your pipe and smoke it” reflect how deeply tobacco became embedded in everyday life, symbolizing the acceptance of an unwelcome truth. Likewise, the phrase “close but no cigar”—originating from 19th-century fairgrounds where cigars were offered as prizes—illustrates tobacco’s presence even in popular amusement. These linguistic traces remind us that tobacco was not only a plant but also a cultural force shaping idiom, ritual, and commerce on both sides of the Atlantic.

Instead of a typical top-down introduction, as is often the case with trends, tobacco spread from the bottom up: sailors used it to stave off hunger and thirst.(2) Because smoking posed a serious fire hazard on wooden ships, it was prohibited on board. At sea, sailors therefore resorted to chewing or sniffing tobacco instead.

The year 1560 represents a pivotal moment in the history of tobacco: Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal—after whom the genus Nicotiana was later named—began experimenting with tobacco as medicine (Fig. 1).(3) He even introduced the plant to Queen Catherine de’ Medici of France as a remedy for her migraines. When she reported relief, tobacco’s reputation as a medicinal herb spread rapidly across Europe.(4)

English sailors likely adopted the habit of pipe smoking from the Spanish and Portuguese. England soon became an important player in the spread of tobacco across Europe. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) is credited with popularizing tobacco in England after introducing it from the overseas colony of Virginia that he founded in the 1580s.(5) According to  legend, one of his servants, seeing Raleigh smoke for the first time, panicked and doused him with ale or water, believing his master to be on fire (Fig. 2).

The first Dutch herbal book, Cruijdeboeck by Dodonaeus, (second edition, 1554), referred to tobacco as Hyoscyamus luteus, or yellow henbane.(6) It was Emanuel van Meeteren (1536–1612) who introduced the term nicotiana and the name ‘tobacco’ to the Dutch—a term derived from Indigenous peoples themselves. He also recognized the plant’s addictive properties.(7)

When the Dutch saw profit in tobacco, they soon became involved in the overseas tobacco trade. Dutch trade along the coast of, for example, Venezuela and the Antilles, both Spanish colonies, where they initially came for salt, grew rapidly in the early 17th century. For the Spanish, this intrusion into their trade monopoly was a persistent problem. In response, the Spanish government devised and implemented various economic and military measures to repel the foreign intruders.(8)

The violence that the Spanish used against foreigners who interfered with their trade made such a strong impression that the Dutch scaled back their expeditions.(9) This likely prompted the Dutch to explore the possibility of cultivating tobacco domestically instead. From the moment tobacco reached the Netherlands as a live plant—cultivated in botanical gardens for medicinal use—it began to be grown on a larger scale from the early 17th century onwards, particularly in the province of Utrecht, where Amersfoort was the most important center, as well as in the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel.(10)

As a tropical to subtropical crop, the success of tobacco growth was highly dependent on weather conditions in the Netherlands. Both the quantity and quality of the harvest were affected by the climate. The relatively cool Dutch summers made it difficult for the plants to fully ripen and, especially, to dry properly. Most of the inland tobacco was for medicinal use, not for recreational consumption. For this last purpose, the English American colonies emerged as the principal suppliers of the Dutch market, with Virginia playing the leading role (Fig. 3). The import of Virginian tobacco exploded from circa 500 kg in 1616 to 700,000 kg in 1629.(11)

The popularity of tobacco did not come without hurdles. In the seventeenth century, tobacco was widely criticized by both secular authorities and the Church. Governments saw it as a drain on national wealth and feared fires in densely built wooden cities, caused by careless smoking. Furthermore, they believed that its cultivation would undermine grain production, harming the poor. In Russia, for example, despite a ban, Dutch and German merchants—and many locals—continued to smoke. By 1634, authorities imposed strict punishments, including public flogging and even cutting off the nose.(12) The Church condemned it as morally dangerous, associating it with heathens and the devil. Defenders of tobacco argued that the plant itself was neither good nor bad, praising its calming effects on the nerves and its medicinal uses. Its prestige grew further during the plague years of the 1630s, when it was believed to help prevent infection.

Once it became clear that tobacco could serve as a profitable source of taxation, governments throughout the 17th century increasingly treated it as a “golden goose.”(13) Import duties and excise taxes were soon imposed, and by around 1650, several countries had established state tobacco monopolies. As revenues from tobacco grew, authorities gradually eased restrictions and enforcement against its use. Similarly, ecclesiastical objections diminished over time, as tobacco became more widely accepted socially, even though formal bans and disapproval remained in effect for many years.

In 1630, tobacco, long considered a medicine, was only available in pharmacies.(14) But ten years later it was sold in the tabagie, a public establishment in which people could smoke, drink alcohol, and buy and light their pipes (Fig.4).(15) The tobacco was displayed in rolls of twisted tobacco and sold in parts. The Prinsenhof in Delft holds eight fantastic Delft faience plates out of a series of twelve, showing stages of the Dutch tobacco trade in the late seventeenth century, two of which demonstrate that this practice remained the same (Fig 5 and 6). In the eighteenth century the price of tobacco dropped and it became even more widespread.

Initially, tobacco was smoked in rolled or wrapped form, but it was also dried and ground into powder to be smoked through silver or clay pipes.(16) With these evolving smoking habits came the necessary accessories. Tobacco boxes, for example, were introduced as early as the late sixteenth century.(17) They quickly became a canvas for artists, who crafted exquisite examples in materials such as silver, brass, and shell. These early boxes, often oval or egg-shaped, were relatively small due to the high cost of tobacco at the time and were designed for convenient pocket use.(18) By the late seventeenth century, the shapes of tobacco boxes had diversified to include round and oblong forms, and during the eighteenth century the boxes became more elongated. Metal boxes were often intricately engraved with scenes related to smoking, biblical narratives, everyday life, and military themes.

The practice of smoking—and the artistry expressed in the objects associated with it—flourished in the Netherlands, where it was far more widespread than elsewhere in Europe. Almost every man in the Netherlands smoked a pipe and carried a tobacco box. This prominence is vividly captured in the nickname the Germans bestowed upon their neighbors: Dosenträger (“box carriers”).(19) The early and widespread use of tobacco in the Netherlands meant that the Dutch became pioneers in the development of tobacco-related utensils.

At this time, Delft potters had not yet ventured into producing smoking utensils, as their material was poorly suited for portability. Tobacco did, however, become a popular decorative theme—just like many other aspects of everyday life. The earliest references to tobacco use in Dutch ceramics appear on blue-and-white tiles and plates from the mid-seventeenth century, often depicting pipe smokers and smoking paraphernalia such as pipes and spittoons.(20) (Fig. 7 and Fig. 8).

Over time, Delft potters transitioned from merely depicting smoking equipment to crafting the objects themselves. Delft spittoons are probably the first Delft faience tobacco utensils and began to appear over the course of the seventeenth century.(21) One of the earliest administrative references to such production is the mention of spoeghpotten (spittoons) in a 1692 inventory made upon the death of Rochus Hoppesteyn, owner of Het Jonge Moriaanshooft (The Young Moorshead).(22) Based on the price mentioned in this inventory, these objects were costly products compared to others. Another early reference is found in an inventory from 1702, recorded by Vlielander Hein, which mentions two white Delft spittoons.(23)

Spittoons, usually round with a dished rim and a handle, can be distinguished from cuspidors, which have a flared rim and not always a handle. Seventeenth-century Delft inventories and pottery lists mention only spittoons, while cuspidors appear for the first time in the 1724 price lists, offered alongside spittoons in various sizes and types.(24). Beyond the range of polychrome cuspidors made for special occasions, factories maintained a stock of high-quality blue-and-white examples (Fig. 9). The cuspidor continued to be used until the early twentieth century. As a consequence of the many deaths caused by the Spanish flu in 1918, spitting came to be regarded as a source of disease transmission and was increasingly rejected in public life.

Gradually, smoking culture also came to include domestic use, which resulted in specific paraphernalia for at home. Essential among these was a storage container for a larger quantity of tobacco. Delft potters created table tobacco boxes that not only served as practical storage vessels, but also as showpieces. They were usually closed with an inner lid to prevent the tobacco from drying out. For a century, this remained a typically Dutch product.(25)

An early example of a Delft tobacco box appears in a 1700 inventory of a Delft citizen: a “Delffse aerde tabacksdoos” (a Delftware tobacco box).(26) Unfortunately, details on shape and decoration remain unknown.  It seems likely that this was a table tobacco box, given the fact that such pots were already functional in silver at the time.(27) Physical examples of Delft tobacco boxes from this early date remain unknown.

 

The larger tobacco jars were used to store snuff or “carrots” of tobacco—dried, twisted leaves—typically in specialized shops. Their form is reminiscent of traditional pharmacy jars and appears to be inspired by Chinese prototypes.(28) They are often decorated with names that refer to the type of tobacco, the place where the tobacco was made, or the port through which it was traded (Fig.10). For example, Rappé for snuff tobacco, after the French word. Numbers can also occur on these storage jars and refer to house brand tobacco of particular shops.(29) Delft pottery ‘De Drie Klokken’ (The Three Bells) was one of the most prominent producers of tobacco jars.(30)

The diverse array of Delft faience tobacco utensils reflects how potters combined commercial awareness with artistic ingenuity, embedding their craft within the routines of daily life. The spittoons, cuspidors, tobacco boxes, and jars that remain each offer their own perspective on the important history of tobacco in the Netherlands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes

1. 1. H.K. Roessingh, Inlandse tabak: expansie en contractie van een handelsgewas in de 17e en 18e eeuw in Nederland, 1976, p. 36.
   2. Stephen Snelders, “Normalisation and Ambivalence: Tobacco in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic,” Cultural and Social History, 20:1, 2023, p. 15
   3. Grace G. Stewart, “A History of the Medicinal Use of Tobacco 1492–1860,” Medical History, Vol. 11, Issue 3, July 1967, p. 234.
   4. Deborah Gage and Madeleine Marsh, Tobacco Containers and Accessories: Their Place in Eighteenth-Century European Social History, London, 1988, p. 11.
   5. Ben Johnson, “Introduction of Tobacco to England,” published online; and Gage and Marsh, 1988, pp. 12–13.
   6. Stewart, 1967, p. 236.
   7. G. A. Brongers, Nicotiana Tabacum: The History of Tobacco and Tobacco Smoking in the Netherlands, Groningen, 1964, p. 17.
   8. Roessingh, 1976, p. 189.
   9. Roessingh, 1976, p. 189.
   10. Brongers, 1964, p. 71.
   11. Snelders, 2023, p. 13.
   12. Roessingh, 1976, p. 91.
   13. Roessingh, 1976, pp. 92–93.
   14. Brongers, 1964, p. 237.
   15. Brongers, 1964, p. 237.
   16. Brongers, 1964, p. 17.
   17. Brongers, 1964, p. 49.
   18. Don Duco, The Dutch Tobacco Box, Pijpenkabinet Foundation, 2012 (https://pipemuseum.nl/en/article/de-hollandse-tabaksdoos).
   19. Duco, 2012.
   20. Van Geenen, 2017, p. 98, ill. 09.56.
   21. Based on paintings, Delft tiles, and plates with depictions of spittoons.
   22. M. van Aken-Fehmers, 1999, pp. 210–211.
   23. Brongers, 1964, p. 169.
   24. Van Aken-Fehmers, 1999, p. 249.
   25. Don Duco, Tabakspotten, published at: https://pipemuseum.nl/nl/tabakspotten.
   26. Van Aken-Fehmers, 1999, p. 141.
   27. A.C. Beeling, Nederlands Zilver 1600–1813, Leeuwarden, 1979, p. 92.
   28. Gage and Marsh, 1988, pp. 66–67.
   29. Joseph Estié, “De Tabakspotten,” in: Christine Lahaussois (ed.), Delfts Aardewerk, Amsterdam, 2008, p. 194.
   30. Femke Haitsma Mulier, “De Drie Klokken: Behind Every Great Factory,” published on aronson.com.

Bibliography

• Aken-Fehmers, M. van, Delfts aardewerk: geschiedenis van een nationaal product, Zwolle/The Hague, 1999.
• Beeling, A.C., Nederlands Zilver 1600–1813, Leeuwarden, 1979.
• Brongers, G.A., Nicotiana Tabacum: The History of Tobacco and Tobacco Smoking in the Netherlands, Groningen, 1964.
• Duco, Don, The Dutch Tobacco Box. Amsterdam: Pijpenkabinet Foundation, 2012. [Online: https://pipemuseum.nl/en/article/de-hollandse-tabaksdoos]
• Estié, Joseph, “De Tabakspotten,” in: Christine Lahaussois (ed.), Delfts Aardewerk, Amsterdam: Waanders, 2008, p. 194.
• Gage, Deborah, and Madeleine Marsh, Tobacco Containers and Accessories: Their Place in Eighteenth-Century European Social History, London: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1988.
• Geenen, L.-P. van, Delfts Aardewerk. Merken en Fabrieken, Hoorn: Uitgeverij PolderVondsten, 2017.
• Haitsma Mulier, Femke, “De Drie Klokken: Behind Every Great Factory,” published on aronson.com.
• Johnson, Ben, “Introduction of Tobacco to England,” published online; and Gage and Marsh, 1988, pp. 12–13.
• Roessingh, H.K., Inlandse tabak: expansie en contractie van een handelsgewas in de 17e en 18e eeuw in Nederland, Wageningen: H. Veenman & Zonen, 1976.
• Snelders, Stephen, “Normalisation and Ambivalence: Tobacco in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic,” Cultural and Social History, 20:1, 11–26, 2023. DOI: 10.1080/14780038.2021.1976701.
• Stewart, Grace G., “A History of the Medicinal Use of Tobacco 1492–1860,” Medical History, Vol. 11, Issue 3, July 1967, pp. 228–268.
• Tabakspotten, Pijpenmuseum. [Online: https://pipemuseum.nl/nl/tabakspotten]